


In Technicolor

by cielmelodies



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Magic, Animagus, Cats, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Morning Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-06-25 16:08:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 28,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15644238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cielmelodies/pseuds/cielmelodies
Summary: A Hogwarts!prompt verse following Jun(&co)’s first year in Hogwarts, to when he becomes Transfiguration Professor, Hufflepuff Head of House. Oh, and Sho’s cat.Latest update: Prompt 20 - Magic(The SJ fluff begins from Prompt 12 onwards)(Explicit content in Prompt 20 only ^^ The rest of the prompts are pg-rated :3)





	1. Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Clarification on Pairings:  
> Gen for early prompts, unrequited-SJ for mid prompts, SJ for last... 3 prompts?
> 
> Basically an Arashi!magic verse that is (Sho)Jun-centric since this is August and Jun’s birthday month and writer is me. Updates will be daily – 20 days, 20 prompts, until Jun’s birthday. Just a mixture of gen, floof, and… yep. 
> 
> I've been working on it for..... um.... oh man, for how long now? LOL. Around 2 months? And decided I can post it in time for Jun's birthday ^^.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is an unusual 'first-day' of school. For one, the weather wards doesn't seem to work today, but that won't dampen Jun's spirits for his first sorting. 
> 
> ( Nino did not appreciate the boat ride the castle, understandably. )

Above the House tables in the Great Hall, the tall ceiling flashes a garish white before returning to its dark grey. Logically, Jun knows that while the ceiling reflects crackling, ominous clouds, there is no way it should storm within the Great Hall. Even if it was to do so, the Headmaster or professors will never allow for lightning to strike the dining tables... Or at least, Jun hopes they won’t. From what his sister has told him during her summer vacation ramblings, it is the work of a nifty charm stuck onto the rune-etched ceiling, one meant to reflect the external weather. 

Jun is grateful for magic – if it weren’t for supporting charms and wards, all the first years (Jun included) would have reached the castle in a drenched state. Despite the Professors’ efforts to stabilize the boat ride, Nino – one of the first years Jun met in the train, and who, with the help of Nino’s childhood friend, Aiba, taught Jun how to play Exploding Snap during the five-hour train ride – still looked positively green by the time they reached the entrance, although he looks far better now. 

The first years are gathered in the center of the dining hall, before the steps that lead to the High Table and a single, lone wooden stool. Jun cannot help but feel like a sheep sent to slaughter, with all the critical gazes directed towards their group. The murmurs have grown in volume since their entry, the other students – all older than Jun – scrutinizing them carefully. 

Jun feels especially nervous because there is no doubt that he is the youngest student among the first years. He does not know how many times his sister has repeatedly teased him about the matter, since his birthday is just a day before the end of August (which is the cut-off date for the yearly intake of first years). His mother assured him that his birthday will not affect his sorting or schooling whatsoever, but naturally, he finds the reassurance slightly dubious. He is already short to begin with (“You haven’t had your growth spurt yet, so you’ll be fine, dear.” Is what his mother tells him).

“—When I call your name, please step up to be sorted to your house.” 

The Deputy Headmaster, Higashiyama-sensei, from what Jun remembers from his sister’s tales, was recently promoted to his current position after the previous deputy came down with a case of dragon pox. According to her, said-previous-deputy decided to take a ‘sabbatical’ of indefinite length after his recovery – whatever sabbatical means, that is. Jun determines that Higashiyama-sensei doesn’t look old enough to hold a high position, but that only increases Jun’s admiration for the deputy. He must be powerful to be deserving of the position, or at least, experienced enough. 

Aiba is the first person to be called up, almost vibrating with excitement as he takes a seat on the stool, eyes crossing as he tries to look up the inside of the sorting hat just as it descends upon his head. Aiba mentioned that he was curious to know what was  _ in _ the hat during the train ride, although Nino and Jun looked at him quite funnily. After all, it is a charmed hat – it should contain nothing. Nino promptly labelled Aiba as a Gryffindor, to Jun’s amusement, but only the sorting hat can make that decision. 

“Gryffindor!” 

The grin on Aiba’s face is infectious as he looks eagerly in the direction of Nino, who in turn, nudges Jun as though to say, ‘I told you so’. Jun replies with a shy smile of his own, unable to muster up something brighter in his anxious state.  _ What if there isn’t any house for Jun? What if his new housemates don’t like him?  _

Such questions pick at his nerves, until it takes Nino’s helpful nudge to make Jun realize that his name is being called.

“Go on.” Nino whispers.

Jun moves in an almost robotic manner, stiff and awkward as he clambers onto the high stool, back ramrod straight and hands trembling ever so slightly. Everyone is staring at him – some in curiosity, and some in boredom as they tap against the empty table in front of them. Jun wouldn’t call himself shy, but in a new place, with so many strangers, he prefers being with a group of wide-eyed eleven- and twelve-year olds, to being put on a pedestal for others to stare at. 

A rough hat being placed on his head pulls Jun directly out of his thoughts. He can barely see the Great Hall beyond the wide brim, and while the worn fabric is heavy on his head, Jun finds it oddly comforting. 

_ You’re nervous, child. This is the first time someone has called me ‘comforting’. Quite curious, quite curious, I say. _

Jun nearly starts at spoken words in his mind, a deep voice that sounds like the hat when declaring Houses, but softer and nonverbal.

_ Who are you? _

_ Why, I am the Sorting Hat, of course! Now, don’t you worry about not belonging to any house – yes, I see that that’s one of your worries. Hmm… and your Housemates not liking you? Well, I think you’ll find yourself mistaken. Yes, yes. You’ll do perfectly in – _  “Hufflepuff!”

Hufflepuff. Jun numbly stands when Higashiyama-sensei gently cajoles him to do so. For a split second, he panics, unsure of where to go; but then he realizes that it is quite easy to identify his new House. The uproarious cheers emerge from the table beneath the yellow banner, a series of yellow confetti being blown out of someone’s hat in a sharp pop. At the Gryffindor table, Aiba is clapping excitedly for him, both hands raised in a thumbs up, and Nino looks oddly smug at Jun’s sorting. Somewhere in the Slytherin table, he sees an excited group of girls clapping louder than their counterparts; Jun pretends that he doesn’t know it is his sister and her group of friends. 

What did ‘Hogwarts: A History’ say about the House of Hufflepuff? 

Badgers. Fiercely protective of their friends, hard-working, honest and just. 

For the first time in an hour, Jun finally grins a full, toothy grin, eyes squishing into half-moons as he nearly skips over to his new House. 

(The hat barely touches Nino’s head before it shouts “Ravenclaw”. Jun isn’t surprised – he does seem very sharp, and such a characteristic fits very well with the Ravens.) 


	2. Blackboard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun's first meeting with Sho is in his fourth year. He needs some tutoring for COMC - creatures don't like him - and Sho is introduced as his tutor.

“Professor?”  
  
Jun nervously calls out from behind the fence that encloses the castle ground pastures. The pastures are the only un-forbidden area of the Forbidden forest, warded against ‘dangerous’ creatures but allowing more ‘demure’ ones to pass through for class observation. From his Care of Magical Creatures class, Jun knows that the school’s thestral herd roams the pastures alongside a mating pair of Aethonan horses.   
  
He is in fourth year now and no longer the shortest among his peers, even though his sister is still taller than him. That is quite expected, given that she is older than him, of course, but Jun is still affronted whenever she passes him in the hallways and pats his hair with no warning. Besides physical appearance, Jun would say that he has grown significantly within his three and a half years in Hogwarts. In his first year, he took to flying as naturally as a merlin (the bird, not the wizard), and easily passed the auditions for Quidditch in his third year (The rules were changed a few years prior to forbid both first and second year students from Quidditch trials due to safety concerns by parents). Jun is now a Chaser for his house, and is always quite thrilled and annoyed when he has to fly against the Ravenclaws, who coincidentally have Nino as their seeker.   
  
Playing against Nino in Quidditch is the least of his worries – his Care of Magical Creatures class however, is a big worry of his. Jun is confident when it comes to the theoretical aspect of the class, but unfortunately, CoMC is more than a theory class and its practical aspect holds more weightage. When he was choosing his electives over summer a year ago, Jun was almost brimming with excitement over the prospect of working with magical creatures – even the slimier ones (read: Murtlap) – but the excitement quickly dwindled into frustration as classes began.   
  
Unfortunately for Jun, while his theoretical foundation is strong, for whatever incomprehensible reason, magical creatures simply  _do not like him_. Not even Professor Scamander can explain the wariness of the creatures towards Jun, for even his tamest occamy has decided from first glance that Jun’s nose deserves to be bitten off. Perhaps their distaste of him stems from Jun’s own hesitancy, or at least, that is Professor Scamander’s hypothesis, and as per his line of reasoning (as slightly deranged as the professor can be), spending more time with the creatures will improve their relationship.   
  
“Professor?” Jun calls out once again, attempting to keep his voice low so as to not disturb the creatures nearby. The man is absent, but a sound of rustling from the direction of the equipment shack makes itself known to Jun, followed by a swift curse. Moving closer, Jun jerks back in shock when the CoMC professor emerges quite abruptly from the dark oak shack. Professor Rolf Scamander is an interesting man; hair a dark auburn and accent a strange mix of British and everywhere from his travels around the world. His green eyes always hold a brightness that is often interpreted as ‘crazed’ until he begins to talk about his creatures. In those situations, they soften into a rare kindness that is reserved for only the two loves of Prof Scamander’s life: his family, and his creatures.   
  
“No, you’re not allowed to come out of your nest overnight. There’s plenty of food in there and there are warming charms in your nes— No, I don’t care if you’re choranaptyxic. Acromantulas live in swarms and you are  _not_  going out because you want a snack. That’s final. Don’t argue with me—“   
  
With the door open, Jun can clearly hear the indignant squawk that is bone-chillingly familiar. That’s probably one of the occamies who decided that it didn’t like Jun’s face. Biting his lip, Jun keeps his distance as the man continues with what sounds like a one-sided argument, and Jun only relaxes when Prof Scamander closes the door and magically locks the door with a swish of his hand.   
  
“Matsumoto-kun. I’m sorry you had to hear that.” The man apologizes, and Jun tries to not notice how there’s a smear of an iridescent blue goo on his face. Or perhaps he should notice it, since it might be toxic—  
  
“You have something on your face, Professor.”  
  
A newcomer greets the pair from behind Jun, the melodious tenor sounding deeply amused as he comes to a stop at Jun’s shoulder. Jun notices the white and green tie first, neatly knotted at the collar - almost expected of a Slytherin - before taking note of the metallic green and silver prefect badge pinned onto the left side of his dark robe. The stranger is likely a Fifth or sixth year then, given that the Seventh Years are already occupied with their NEWT revisions.   
  
“No, don’t lick it. It looks like the slime of a Billywig.” The stranger warns, and helpfully conjures a neat handkerchief that he passes over to the sheepish looking professor. It is only then the stranger turns to greet Jun, polite and perfectly congenial as he tilts his head and smiles. “You must be Matsumoto-kun. The professor mentioned you. I’m Sakurai Sho. Fifth year Slytherin.”  
  
He offers a hand that Jun takes almost numbly, feeling oddly shy in the presence of the Sakurai Sho. They are not acquainted but Jun has heard of Sakurai’s name in passing. It doesn’t help that Ohno knows him as well, and has mentioned him to Jun before. Best in his year for DADA, a shoe-in for the Head Boy position in 2 years, and son of the Minister of Magic. Sakurai is a year under Jun's sister, but Jun is familiar enough with her swooning to know that Sakurai is charming and well-loved by the professors and the girls in his house.   
  
“Matsumoto Jun. Fourth year Hufflepuff.”   
  
“I know. I've heard your sister talk about you in the Slytherin common room.” Jun winces at the remark, knowing that nothing she says is good, especially when it comes to her little brother. Sho shows no sign of teasing as his grin widens to show a little teeth. “I heard you're the best in your year for Transfiguration.”  
  
“And the worst for Care of Magical Creatures.”  
  
“Well, not for the worst reasons, from what Professor Rolf has told me. None of us are perfect.” Sho refutes without too much thought, and Jun for an unknown reason wishes to reply with ‘But you are’.   
  
Next to them, Professor Scamander nods vigorously as he wipes away the Billywig slime and gazes at it in an almost distracted manner. “Matsumoto-kun has no issues with his theory. I'd say it's perfect. He just has a little issue with handling the creatures. Which is why Sho-kun will be your tutor, Matsumoto-kun. I hope you feel comfortable with this arrangement?”  
  
Jun blinks in surprise, body freezing up in tension as the words sink in. He isn't sure what to feel regarding the arrangement - his sister might shake him if she knew, but Jun has no intentions of telling her. That's his business, of course. But if Sakurai is a fifth year, then his OWLS revision will surely take up some of his time; the last thing Jun wishes to do is inconvenience Sakurai.  
  
“As long as you're not too busy with the OWLs…” Jun starts awkwardly, not wanting to sound ungrateful.   
  
Sho waves him off with a flippant hand. “I’m not too busy to be able to help you. I’m working on a side project with Professor Rolf, so I’m always visiting his creatures twice to thrice a week in the evenings. We had the idea that if you had someone the creatures like around you, they may be more receptive to you, than if you were to be alone with them. Less likely to bite your fingers off and all that.”  
  
“You’ll be in good hands, Matsumoto-kun. The creatures all love Sho-kun and he knows how to wrangle them as well as I do, so you won’t be in too much of inconceivable danger.”  
  
The mention of danger has Jun paling slightly, a change that does not go unmissed by Sakurai. The prefect grimaces at the poor choice of words and rests a hand on Jun’s back as though to stop him from running - not that Jun would of course, that would be extremely embarrassing, and unnecessary. “If you’re up for it, then we’ll start out with something a little more tame. I’m due to feed the new litter of kneazle kittens this evening, and you can help me with the task.”  
  
Two hours later, Jun finds himself grinning widely as he enters through the portrait into the Hufflepuff common room, fingers smarting with his newly earned cuts (even baby kneazles have sharp claws) but heart feeling as light as the kittens he carried without being scratched in the face.


	3. Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun is in his 6th year now, and wants to thank Sho for helping him with his CoMC grades for his OWLs. Unfortunately, misunderstandings occur.

No matter what Nino and the others think, it wasn’t Sho’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really, but Jun’s own. Jun couldn’t help himself, and the more Jun thinks about it now, the more horrified he is at himself for having lost control for that short moment it took for him to kiss Sho in the middle of the hallway.   
  
There is no one else around when it happens, no one but the two of them since Sho has just finished clarifying some of Jun’s patrol shifts for that term, and it is past curfew.   
  
He doesn’t know what takes over him. One moment, he is telling Sho how he  _“got that O for Care of Magical Creatures! I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you, thank you so much for your help!”_ , and the next, he is pressing his lips against Sho’s - Sho’s breath smelling of the dessert from the Entrance Feast (yet Jun doesn’t care) - and then he stills when Sho flinches away from the kiss.  
  
Jun feels the blood rush away from his face when he sees Sho’s dark expression, his eyes black and wide with anger and surprise. Jun makes to apologize, when Sho grips his wrist firmly enough to hurt and pulls him hurriedly into the nearest alcove, mumbling a rushed privacy ward as he pushes Jun against the wall.  
  
“What were you thinking?” Sho growls, fierce and frightening, pupils visibly dilated with panic as he looks around for any possible onlookers. His reaction makes Jun heart fall even further, Jun feeling nauseous as it dawns upon him that Sho may be ashamed of associating with him. “You can’t just do that. Are you stupid? What if someone saw us?”  
  
“I—I didn’t, I mean, I’m s-sorry.” Jun stammers, eyes suddenly burning at the sight of Sho’s anger directed at him. Sho has always had a formidable temper, but he has never once raised his voice or been furious at Jun. Suddenly feeling very small, Jun makes the swift decision to shut up, even though the confession is at the tip of his tongue –  _“I really like you. I really, really like you.”_. It hurts, he realizes later, having to apologize for feeling attracted to Sho.   
  
“What if somebody saw us?” Sho hisses, completely blind to Jun’s sudden fright. “I’m the Head Boy. And you’re a prefect. Out of curfew hours. What do you think people would say?”  
  
Or perhaps, Sho doesn’t want to be seen with Jun that way.  
  
… Jun feels like an idiot right now.  
  
“I’m sorry.” Jun instead repeats numbly, wishing the walls could swallow him up right now and take him away from this horrible situation he is in. Sho isn’t even concerned with what the kiss means. “I—I just…”  
  
“Think about where we are, Matsumoto. Our position. You know how bad the castle gossip-mill is. You can’t just choose to  _feed_  it on a whim.”  
  
“…I’m sorry.” Jun repeats, and drops his gaze to his feet, unable to look at Sho anymore. “I’ll… I’ll—”  
  
“Just return to your house now, Matsumoto.”  
  
xxx  
  
Jun does as he is told. Most of his dorm-mates are asleep by the time Jun arrives, and he is suddenly grateful for the late hour despite knowing that he must be up and ready early in the morning to escort the new first years to the great hall and classes. The room is quiet besides the regular exhales of his dorm-mates, allowing Jun to think about what has just happened in the previous hour.  
  
Casting a privacy ward and locking spell at the bathroom door takes no effort at all, and it is only when Jun looks at himself in the mirror that he realizes how pale he is, eyes still wide and pupils blown with fear. Sho looked so angry. And at him, which makes him feel more sick to his stomach than any form of wizarding flu ever has. Sho is angry at Jun, because Jun kissed him.   
  
How could Jun have been so stupid and careless?


	4. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is talk of a student illicitly selling spells to skip classes - Sho investigates.

There are rumors of a student illicitly selling inconspicuous spells to skip classes - ones that work even better than the skiving snackboxes, which are too detectable now that they are being sold in Hogsmeade. The spells are said to be impenetrable to more powerful revealing charms as well, likely keyed to a specific incantation to remove it.   
  
It is quite clever spellwork, Sho admits, so advanced that even their current charms professor and Headmaster are baffled that they can’t detect it… or undo it. Impressive, really; Sho wouldn’t mind meeting the spellcrafter to learn how the spell was made. The culprit will do very well tutored by a spellcrafting or charms master. Unfortunately, as the Head Boy, it is Sho’s responsibility - or at least one of his responsibilities - to investigate and shutdown the illegal operation.  
  
From what Sho managed to gather from his prefects, the culprit will be selling his spell to some students tonight, meaning that Sho will be able to intervene and uncover the seller’s identity.   
Except that Sho did not expect the culprit to be one of his good friends.   
  
“And that would be 2 sickles per person, thank you very much. Remember that the spell only works for this term, so don’t bother casting it next term unless you want to get boils.”   
  
“What do you mean it only works this term?” The buyer sounds as confused as Sho feels, the unfamiliar male voice rising in pitch slightly. “You’re telling me that I’d have to buy this from you again?”  
  
“It’s a safety precaution. The spell is keyed into a ward I’ve placed on the grounds to stop students from overusing it - the last thing I need is for the professors to get suspicious and figure out the spell, and then  _no one_  will be able to use it ever again, so consider it for  _my_ and  _your_  safety, yes?”   
  
“I… don’t understand?”   
  
Nino sighs, sounding almost lazy as he explains, “The more frequently a spell is used, the higher the chance for a wizard or witch to detect and uncover its presence. If I have people using it every single year, then we’re all going to be in trouble. So, don’t use it next term unless you want boils, capish?”   
  
Sho is  _really_  impressed now - it’s extremely stealthy to tie a spell into a ward to control its dispersion. Outside the ward area, it likely reverses into a normal jinx, probably a boil-inducing jinx from Nino’s explanation. It thus explains why the Headmaster and professors have yet to figure out how to detect or uncover it. If it was built over a minor jinx, no professor will think to search simple and harmless jinxes, moreover ban them. The spell must truly be a work of magical art, especially coming from a sixth year student. But then again, Nino isn’t a Ravenclaw for no reason.  
  
Unfortunately, that leaves Sho in a difficult position, but he doesn’t require too much time to make his decision concerning the next plan of action.   
  
Or rather, the next plan of inaction.   
  
He waits outside the alcove for unsuspecting - what it appears to be a group of third-year gryffindor - students to scurry back to their tower, before slipping in with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms across his chest as he watches his friend happily count his sickles in his small palm, “Impressive.”  
  
“Isn’t it?” Nino cheerfully preens, looking unbeesching as he beams at Sho, all charm and no guilt. His caramel brown eyes sparkle with pride as he one-handedly pockets his most recent profits. “It took a while to work out how to play with the wards, but I’m quite proud of it. Turns out layering a spell over a preexisting one is easier than creating one from scratch.”   
  
“Quite brilliant, yes.” Sho praises flatly, although he means what he says. “You know, I should report you.”   
  
“Yes, you should, Mister Head Boy… but you wouldn’t report little old me, would you? You’re much too impressed by my work to put an end to it.”   
  
Sho does not answer and instead waves his hand lazily to cast wordless and wandless  _tempus_. 5 minutes to curfew, just the right amount of time for Nino to make his way back to the Ravenclaw tower in time. He banishes the floating numbers with another wave of his hand, then smiles benignly at Nino. “It’s almost curfew. I can still deduct points for finding you out of your bird nest.”   
  
The ravenclaw rolls his eyes but proceeds to grab his backpack anyway, stifling a yawn while patting his now jingling pocket full of sickles. “Touche. Very well then, I only had them as customers today anyway.”   
  
“Just  _try_  not to get caught? You know, anyone of them could snitch on you.”   
  
Finally, Nino’s look of innocence and pride melts into vague irritation, as though Sho offended him with his warning. “I jinxed the spell too. What did you take me for - a Gryffindor?”  
  
“It was just a comment. No need to peck my eyes out for being a good friend.” Sho lightly nudges him out in the direction of the tower, and quickly walks in step with Nino, knowing that at least this way, there will be less of a chance for Nino to get in trouble should he get back too late, since he is with Sho. Nino merely hums at his answer, and barely falters in his step as he suddenly glances at Sho with a sharpness that the Ravenclaw usually reserves for less perceptive yearmates.   
  
“Speaking of being good friends...What did you do, by the way?”   
  
_What?_  “What did I do? What are you talking about?”   
  
“You know what I’m talking about.” Nino presses, and harrumphs impatiently when Sho pinches his forehead in confusion - he  _really_  doesn’t know what Nino is talking about, unfortunately. “J. What did you do to him?”   
  
_Oh._  
  
Biting his tongue, Sho quickly looks away from Nino’s perceptive gaze to nod at the passing portraits. That isn’t a question he had been expecting, especially coming from Nino. But then again, Jun and Nino are in the same year, and share some classes (besides CoMC, Sho remembers, then winces at the memory), so it isn’t surprising that Nino would know if something happened between them.   
  
And so the words fail Sho, unsure of what to say but guilt bearing heavily on him. He has yet to speak to Jun since that evening, the awkwardness a great chasm that not even Sho dares to traverse, although the onus is surely on him to do so. After all, it was his response that caused a big rift between them, but… he was taken by surprise, and he has had much on his mind recently, with his father’s recent pressure for him to apply to the auror training in the ministry.   
  
The last thing Sho is ready to handle right now is a relationship. Not specifically a relationship with Jun, no, but with anyone. He hasn’t even had the time to really consider his sexuality, although such matters are hardly important in the wizarding world. At least nobody cares about that here. But nevertheless, it would be irresponsible for Sho if he were to take advantage of Jun’s kindness and enter a relationship Sho hasn’t even been looking for. Neither of them deserve that, yet… Sho has to admit that his response was anything but kind, and his cowardness a further slight towards Jun on his part.   
  
… He must really get his shit together.  
  
“Well, are you going to explain yourself?” Nino’s words are sharp, loaded with much judgement that Sho finds himself wilting. “If you’re the reason why Jun has holed himself up in his room and has chosen to have his meals in his dorm room, citing that he has to  _revise_  for his NEWTS which are more than 20 months away, then you and I have a problem.”   
  
“He kissed me. And I might not… have reacted positively to it.” Sho lamely finishes, not even bothering to defend himself. The fault doesn’t solely lie on either Sho or Jun, but Nino’s piercing glare tells Sho that he might have been the only one blind to Jun’s affections for him. “It caught me off-guard, but I’m still an asshole, I know.”  
  
“Figures that you’d be blind to it. He’s had a crush on you for the longest time, and you go and break his heart like that.”   
  
“I didn’t know!” Sho hisses and fiddles with his tie uneasily. “It wouldn’t have been fair for him either, if I pretended I knew and ended up letting him on. I’m not interested in dating anyone right now — and… I wouldn’t be able to stand myself if I hurt him like that.”   
  
The Ravenclaw merely raises an unimpressed eyebrow, and points out, “You hurt him anyway.”   
“I know. I’ll — What am I supposed to do? He must hate me now.”   
  
“Don’t be dramatic.” Nino snaps, and sends a mild stinging hex to Sho’s hand. “He doesn’t hate you. He likes you. But he’s hurting and we all know he’s about as temperamental as a cat. Just… talk to him, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll send in Oh-chan as reinforcement.”  
  
Sho nods uneasily, but knows that it is not going to be an easy process. The act of soothing a hurt creature is rarely an easy process, especially if he was hurt by Sho directly.  
—


	5. Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ohno muses on the propsect of Sho being horrible with plants and good with creatures. Of a sort.

The thing about being older than everyone else in his year is that it makes Ohno a bit of a loner among his yearmates. Technically, he  _should_  be in the year above his current one, a sixth year instead of a fifth year, but he doesn’t mind it, really. No one picks on him for his age - well, no one really sees him, if he is to be accurate - and he is quite grateful to be a wallflower. There is no pressure on him, and he would say that he thrives much better without the spotlight shining on him.  
  
He will not necessarily say that he is  _bad_  at his studies. but he isn’t brilliant at them either - nothing like Sho and his straight ‘O’s and ‘E’s, or like Nino with his Charms (the subject, Ohno is referring to the subject, although there is something to be said by Nino’s ability to charm most professors) - but he is  _alright_. He’s an average student with a particular penchant for fishing, and does remarkably well in the ‘odder’ subjects (namely, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy). That naturally makes him an odd duck amongst the other students, but again, being a wallflower means no one really notices him.   
  
Being in a class lower than his age group also reaps other benefits; like having Sho as a year-mate, which makes  _everything_  significantly easier than it should be. Granted, Ohno was a loner for the entirety of his first year until he was paired with Sho for Herbology in the second year.   
  
Coincidentally, they also ended up being in the same Astronomy and CoMC classes, which meant that finding a partner for projects became much easier. Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, Ohno thinks, but the restlessness within him settled significantly when he made his first, official friend.   
  
(Of course, he met Jun afterwards; a Hufflepuff student under him, and that significantly made his evenings in the common room far less lonely, especially once Jun introduces him to his friends, Nino and Aiba. Ohno isn’t sure when he last made friends with people outside his house - barring Sho, of course - or his year, but he can’t say he doesn’t like it. Things get even more exciting when Sho meets Jun in Jun’s fourth year, and suddenly, their circle is complete.)  
  
Whilst some professors might think Ohno is a daydreamer from his often blanked-out and dazed expression in class, those who are closer to him understand that he is more perceptive than the average student, and as such is more fond of watching the world move around him than focus on the professor in class (which he guesses, does make him more inclined towards daydreaming). The habit allows him to make very interesting observations about his classmates, naturally.  
  
Like how Sho is phenomenally bad with plants. That doesn’t necessarily mean he is bad in Herbology per se. From Ohno’s observations of Sho in recent years, he knows that Sho frequently - if not always - scores a minimum of an ‘E’ every year for his Herbology exams. When it comes to knowledge about plants, Sho’s answers are always textbook-perfect. But when he tries to take care of the plants… They generally don’t look too good.   
  
It doesn’t affect his grade, of course - exams often examine short term handling of plants, rather than long term, which is why perhaps Sho is still able to do well in these exams. Ohno recalls rescuing a sad-looking bonsai from Sho and giving it to Jun after noticing its sad leaves (It is a magical bonsai that produces various sounds when its leaves rustle, although the quality of the sound is solely based on its state of health. It can be said that Sho’s bonsai sounded sadder than the giant squid in the middle of summer), and said plant looks a lot happier now under Jun’s care. Perhaps the world is fair then - someone who is good with creatures is terribly bad with plants, and vice versa. 


	6. Rust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sho and Ohno's graduation day// nuff said.

Sho hates this feeling - the feeling that one gets, when they are graduating and leaving Hogwarts. Sho hasn’t been looking forward to this day - well, does anyone really? - and he absolutely  _ detests _ goodbyes, no matter the fact that this is hardly an official goodbye. The bonds forged over six (and three, for a specific trio) years are not going to be broken and forgotten just because they’re graduating, yet it is impossible to be unconscious of the feeling of strangeness to not be able to see the same friends he has spoken to daily, to wake up to green and silver curtains and interact with his prefects. Stepping out of a place he considers home makes him feel sick to his stomach, and he wonders if that feeling is limited to himself. 

Probably not, he thinks with some degree of comfort as he heads to takes in the sight of a still asleep Ohno in his bed, nowhere near packed with his astrolabes still strewn across the room. Jun - bless his soul - has left Ohno to sleep while beginning the quiet, manual packing of his telescopes and astrology equipment into their proper boxes. Somehow, he has almost managed to wrangle the other two - Nino and Aiba - to help with the proper folding of Ohno’s clothes and the hanging out of his graduation garments. 

The three seem morose as they go about packing for their still-asleep senior; Sho nearly stiffles a laugh when a wayward thought enters his mind: it’s like they’re packing for his funeral.

Clearing his throat to make his presence known, Sho smiles apologetically when the three flinch in abrupt shock. Gesturing to their asleep friend, he asks, “He’s not dead now, is he?”

At the confused looks, he continues, “I mean, you all look as though you’re going to be attending his - well,  _ our _ \- funeral.” Their gloomy stares do not change much at his failed joke, much to Sho’s disgruntment. Sighing, Sho tosses himself onto Ohno’s bed and groans dramatically, stretching his arm to grab and shake Ohno vigorously. Next to him, the hufflepuff snorts at the bouncing of his bed, and then starts awake with a wide yawn. “Cheer up, you three. We’re graduating. Aren’t you supposed to be congratulating us?”

“Congratulations.” The echoed greeting is quiet, not even forced joviality audible by any one of their three juniors.

That doesn’t stop the still half-asleep Ohno from blearily replying, “Hmm? Oh, thanks.”

Sho sighs. He doesn’t like the idea of graduating either, but he sincerely doesn’t want his last day in Hogwarts to be filled with such somber silence (and Jun not looking him in the eye, but Sho tried to fix that but has given up). “Come on guys. It’s just the two of us who are graduating. You still have each other for the rest of the year.”

“It won’t be quite the same.” Aiba protests quietly on behalf of the younger trio. Nino and Jun have resumed the methodical packing as though sulking quietly, but Sho and Ohno share a knowing look at the poorly hidden emotions. “It’s always been the five of us.”

“Well, we’ll still see each other. And I promise I’ll continue writing to the three of you. Individual letters.”

“Not me?” Ohno protests loudly from next to Sho, the rest of his indignant statement muffled by Nino sending his graduation gown to his face with a flick of his wand.

Sometimes Sho does feel like the oldest one of the group..

Nino squints at him in suspicion. “And you won’t simply use a duplication spell for the letters?”

Well, there goes his budget for ink. Then again, he will likely have access to the Ministry’s ink, so his budget will live. His hand, probably less so. Even then, Sho promises smoothly, “I won’t.”

“And you’ll get  _ him _ to write too?” Nino points accusingly at Ohno.

This time, it is Jun who answers for Sho, flinging a still unfolded handkerchief at the back of Nino’s head. “Sho-san’s not even doing the same mastery as Ohno-kun. What are you talking about? You’re better off asking Ohno-kun to send you fish in lieu of letters.”

At the mention of fish, Ohno promptly perks up with a still half-asleep smile. “I can do that!”

“Remember to use  _ a stasis charm _ , at least.”

xxx

The other thing Sho hasn’t been looking forward to, besides graduating, is the whole button thing. The ‘button thing’ isn’t a Hogwarts tradition, yet it has become extremely popular in the past few years – students asking their favoured graduating senior (read: crush) for the second button of their shirt – for what reason, Sho has no idea – but as he watches the shy flock of sixth and seventh year girls approach him during the graduation feast, his heart falls with anticipation of what he will have to deal with.

“Um... Sakurai-san?”

_ And so, it begins _ .

Sighing internally, Sho plasters his most neutral smile and greets the sixth year Slytherin. “Miyako-san. How can I help you?”

“Congratulations on graduating.” She begins with a confidence that rapidly vanishes as she steals a furtive glance to the deadly-still group of other sixth years girls from other houses behind her. A representative, perhaps, to test the waters.  _ Brave soul _ . “I’ve admired you a lot, as a junior from the same House… and well, I was wondering if I could have your shirt button?”

Sho’s expression doesn’t change as he tilts his head at the expectant girl, but when he ducks his head in apology, he pretends that he does not see the momentary fall of everyone’s faces in the group.

“I’m sorry, Miyako-san, but I have already promised the button to someone else.”

“O-oh. That’s alright then, Sakurai-san. I’m sorry to bother you.”

“That’s alright. Thank you for your kind wishes. And your friends’ ones as well.” He adds as a consolation, hiding his smirk when he sees the paleness of their faces at the acknowledgement of their presence. Simultaneously, his thanks mean that he does not have to deal with the multitude of fangirls, especially since  _ none _ of them are the aforementioned ‘someone else’. “I hope you will enjoy the End of Year Feast with your year mates.”

A mumbled thank you is all he hears as the flock of girls scuttle away. Whispers of gossip emerge from around him (“When did Sakurai get a girlfriend?”), but Sho chooses to ignore it, and decides that he has spent enough time with his own graduating Slytherin year-mates. He makes his excuses and promptly heads over to the Hufflepuff table where he can already spot the usual group of red and blue amongst yellow.

Sho rolls his eyes at the sight of Nino plastered against Ohno’s side, eyes wide and pleading as he tries to coerce Ohno into giving him his shirt button instead of Aiba, who merely looks betrayed on the other side of Ohno. The senior Hufflepuff seems deaf  _ and _ blind to this fight, cheerfully digging into the slice of melon shortcake in front of him while Jun watches in fond exasperation across the table.

“He’ll give me his button, won’t you, Oh-chan?”

“But—but, that’s not fair! Why do you get it and not me?”

“Because I said so.”

“That’s not democratic at all!”

Sho snorts, then smiles in thanks as the ‘puffs make room for him at the bench next to Jun. “Children, children. Must you really fight at the dining table?”

“Sho-chan! You can choose for Oh-chan! Who should he give his button to?” Aiba throws him an imploring look as Nino manages to summon a bowl of caramel pudding and sets it in front of Ohno as a bribe. “You can’t just use  _ bribes _ , Nino-chan!”

“You’re the one who secured him the melon shortcake, Aiba-ka. Don’t pretend!”

“Maybe he should just give the button to any polite witch or wizard who asks for it.” Jun suggests loftily as he stirs his glass of iced tea with a straw. Nino and Aiba respond with aghast looks and quickly ramps up their pestering of Ohno before someone else can secure the prized button. As though Ohno would give it to anyone else besides them two, Sho thinks with a fond roll of his eyes.

Conjuring a quick privacy spell around their group of five, Sho slips a hand inside his robe to grab his own shirt button and murmurs a precise cutting charm to release it from the fabric. He doesn’t think too hard about his decision of whom the button should go to as he casually offers the small piece of plastic to Jun.

“Here.”

The trio in front of them instantly stop their squabble to watch.

For a short moment, Jun simply looks stunned at the suddenness of Sho’s action, but then balks, leaning away from the tiny circle of plastic as though it is poison. Sho frowns at the response, but instead of feeling anger, Sho only feels remorse at how things have changed. A younger Jun would have been ecstatic to receive it from Sho – and he  _ had _ been ecstatic when Sho promised a then fifth-year Jun that yes, Jun could have his button once Sho graduates – and Sho doesn’t mind doing  _ anything  _ for Jun as long as it makes Jun happy.

But of course, even though Sho has spoken to Jun about the incident, it hasn’t changed the sudden iciness that has arisen between them.

“Don’t—Why would you offer that to me? You have an entire following who would want  _ that _ .”

Sho doesn’t move it any closer or further away from Jun. Despite the cold response, Sho sees uncertainty in Jun’s eyes, masked by what appears to be hurt. Perhaps he thinks Sho is making fun of him this way. “Because you made me promise to give it to you two years ago. And I don’t like to break my promises. Go on, take it.”

“Don’t make fun of me, Sakurai.”

“I’m not.” Sho presses stubbornly. “You might think otherwise, but I’m not. Please take it.”

“I don’t want it.”

Sho widens his eyes, and feigns hurt (well, not necessarily  _ feigns _ ) as he bites his bottom lip. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to have it.”

Jun looks away at Sho’s comment and considers slowly, before sighing in resignation. He appears conflicted even as he reaches out to grab the white button, fingers almost gingerly lifting it away from Sho’s open palm as though a touch between them would hurt him, or them both. Still, once Jun has it in his grip, Sho is almost pleased to see how he lets it roll between his fingers instead of putting it away. When he looks up, there is a pink blush on his cheeks and the tiniest of smiles on his face.

“Thank you.” Jun murmurs softly after several moments, as though remembering himself. When he looks up, he gives Sho a hesitant smile, one that Sho responds in kind with a wider one.

Ohno eventually gives up and gives Aiba and Nino the first and second button of his shirt respectively. It is with great amusement that Jun has to cast a sticking charm to Ohno’s shirt to prevent him from flashing his bare chest in front of the rest of the school.


	7. Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snidgets. Aimiya.

“Aiba-shi, I swear to all things magical, stop crying. Please.” Nino grumbles as he shoves his monogrammed handkerchief into Aiba’s chest. Nino’s project partner is suspiciously bright-eyed as Aiba gazes into the several centuries-old aspen forest, where they can barely make out the soft-yellow blurry figures zooming between the white branches and light-green, semi-dense forest crown. “This isn’t a funeral, you know.” 

Aiba takes the handkerchief but does not use it, hand falling to his side and smile quivering at the edges of his mouth as he glances over at Nino momentarily, then back at the forest where the newly released snidgets are warbling a euphonious bird-song.

The project was part of their sixth year Care of Magical Creatures class - a year-long assignment involving the rehabilitation of rescued snidgets, one per pair of students. Now that they are in the last week of the term and their examinations finally completed, it is time for the students to release their charges into a magically protected aspen forest somewhere in an unmapped region of the continent. It will also be the last time they’ll ever see the snidgets that they spent hours and hours on; taking care of the rescued bird and being careful of its broken wings or whatever state of ill health that the poor thing had been in when they were entrusted to the students. 

It was a pair assignment, and it was an easy decision for Nino to decide to work together with Aiba. It might have been a different story should Jun have chosen to take CoMC as a NEWT subject (which would never have happened, let’s be honest). If that happened, Nino would have given in and let Jun work with Aiba instead - goodness knows Jun needed all the help he could get for his OWLS, and as much as Jun wants to be loved by creatures, trying for NEWT level CoMC is definitely asking for trouble. 

A loud sniff pulls Nino away from his thoughts, and he sighs. “Just use the handkerchief before our classmates see you bawling. You know that Toma will tell Jun-pon, who will be worried.” 

“I know.” Aiba rubs his nose with the side of his palm. “But… I’m just really happy. And kinda sad. Do you suppose Maru will be happy here?”

As soon as the name leaves his lips, Nino gives the Gryffindor a stare of disbelief that Aiba promptly ignores. 

“You  _ named _ him? Even after we were told not to do so or we’d get attached?” 

“But Maru is an excellent name for a snidget!” 

“That’s… not the point.” 


	8. Gloves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaze's Graduation.

“Keep still, Aiba-ka. Do you want me to help you with your tie or not?” Nino growls beneath his breath as he tries to jerk the Gryffindor closer by the already partially-tied necktie. The scrap of silk acts as an efficient leash, and Aiba yelps as the action nearly dislodges him from his seat.  
  
“You’re doing it too tight!” Aiba retorts with an uncharacteristic whine, before turning to gaze at Jun, who is looking perfectly composed and ready as he leans against the dorm room entrance. “I’m not going to graduate with a noose around my neck!”  
  
“It’s not a noose! It’s a tie — it’s supposed to be choking! Do you think I like them?”   
  
“Merlin. Stop, both of you.” Jun is quick to intervene with a roll of his eyes, making his way between them and pulling Nino’s hand off Aiba’s red and golden tie in a swift but gentle movement. “If it’s choking you, then you’re doing it wrong, or your shirt is the wrong size. Since at least  _one_  of you has grown —” Jun ignores Nino’s disgruntled glare — “It will choke  _less_  if you adjusted the shirt collar circumference.”   
  
He flicks his wand in the direction of Aiba’s shirt, and smiles in satisfaction when the shirt instantly straightens itself and just expands ever so slightly at the collar. Within the span of a few minutes, a neat knot sits snugly against the hollow of Aiba’s throat, and the white shirt frames Aiba’s body perfectly and without wrinkles.  
  
“Perfect.” Jun comments after looking over at Aiba’s entire appearance, then sharply turns to face Nino, wand raised and a petrification jinx at the tip of his tongue.   
  
“No, don’t you dar—”   
  
Nino’s affronted cry stops abruptly as the purple jinx hits him, and Aiba applauds Jun’s stealthiness. “Good work, Jun-kun.”   
  
“Don’t look at me like that, Nino. It’ll only take a minute.” Jun reasons resolutely, wand already working fast to repeat the same shirt ironing- and fitting spells on Nino, as well as a quick spell to fix the bird-nest of Nino’s hairstyle. “You’re the top-scorer for Charms, and you couldn’t even cast a few tailoring spells?”   
  
With a swift snap of his fingers, he cancels the petrification spell and crosses his arms as Nino pouts angrily in his direction.  
  
“You know household spells are boring.”   
  
“They’re useful.” Jun pauses, and then casts a permanent anti-wrinkling charm on Aiba’s and Nino’s shirts. “Everyone should know them.”   
  
“What Nino means to say is that he’s bad at them, Jun-kun.” Aiba helpfully nudges Nino’s side with his elbow. “The last time he tried to cast the sweeping charm, the broom decided to attack him instead.”  
  
“Don’t tell him!”   
  
The Hufflepuff sighs, and re-adjusts his tie-pin. To think that they are all graduating today… While Aiba and Nino are bickering just like when Jun first met them on the train.   
  
 _Things never change._  
  
… Or perhaps,  _some_  things change and other things don’t.   
  
“Anyway, I’m here to get you guys to the Great Hall. The ceremony is going to start soon.” Jun fiddles with own yellow and black tie, and then casts  _another_  polishing charm on his Head Boy badge. “Higashiyama-sensei wants the seventh years assembled outside The Hall within the next hour.” He nods at the sight of the packed trunks, although his heart aches at the sight of a now empty room, fully aware that this space - Aiba’s dorm room, to be exact - used to be filled with trinkets and photos that are now tucked into Aiba’s trunk. The house elves will make sure that the trunks get placed in their train carriages later.   
  
Jun looks expectantly at his friends, and then deflates when he sees Aiba’s look of dejection and Nino’s intentional gaming. Instead of pushing them to go to the Great Hall, Jun simply sighs and jumps into Aiba’s unmade bed, foregoing duty and his own concern for his robes (that’s what the anti-wrinkling charms are for, to be honest). Aiba joins him almost instantly with their usual closeness. Nino simply curls up at the foot of the bed, drawing his knees up to his chest, eyes still locked onto the bright screen of his gaming console. They lie in silence for a moment, before Jun finally asks, “Do you guys… feel sad? That we’re leaving Hogwarts?”   
  
“Yep. I don’t want to graduate.” Aiba agrees quickly with a solemn expression, eyes locked onto the curtains above them. “Isn’t it strange? It feels like only yesterday when we were on our first train ride to Hogwarts, and Nino turned quite green on the boat.”  
  
Nino pointedly kicks Aiba on the shin as a response for the ‘green’ comment, but says nothing - that in itself is his answer. Jun merely snorts at Nino’s juvenile response, and suddenly recalls that he has a vial of anti-seasickness potion in his robe pocket to give to Nino - he will need it on the way back, even if the skies appear clear this afternoon. But he agrees with Aiba, silently reaching into his pocket to fiddle with the lone button that has sat in the bottom of his robe pocket for the better half of the year. The smooth plastic feels warm even now, the tiny thing full of memories despite its small existence - and also a reminder of the change Jun needs to and has been working towards.   
  
“But it’s been boring though, since Sho-chan and Oh-chan graduated, if you think about it… Hogwarts isn’t that exciting when it’s not the five of us.” Nino points out quietly after several moments of silence. “Especially this year - it’s just been exams and exams and exams. I’m glad that it’s over.”  
  
“I guess you have a point…”  
  
“It is time for us to grow up.” Jun murmurs in soft agreement, and corrects himself, “Or at least, become proper working adults.”  
  
Aiba sighs at the mention, and a bittersweet smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “No more fun, then? I’ll miss being able to make random potions in class and in the dorms.”   
  
Nino kicks him once again. “Oi, Aiba-shi, you do realize you’ll be doing that for your apprenticeship, right?”  
  
“...Oh! So I am!”   
  
Jun laughs at the sheepish exclamation and pulls the nearest pillow to him, to playfully whack Aiba in the face.


	9. Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet during their internship.

When Ohno walks into Brews and Stews twenty minutes past the planned meeting time, he knows that he isn’t going to be lectured about punctuality today. Twenty minutes is a good amount of time for his friends to decide with whom and where to sit,, and judging from the tenseness in Jun’s shoulders and awkward conversation taking place between Aiba, Nino and Sho, Ohno predicts that the others will only be eager for his arrival. There is, after all, no more room for tension in the atmosphere. 

(He will readily admit that his late-coming was not planned. He was quite distracted with his fishing rod in the next continent over when he received a reminder note from Aiba this morning - he then had to request an earlier international portkey at the portkey office, resulting in his slightly late arrival.) 

True to his predictions, no one bats an eyelash at his arrival. Nino is sitting with Jun on one side of the U-shaped booth, and Sho and Aiba are on the other, but Jun is barely meeting the gazes of the others unless Nino or Aiba directs the conversation towards him. The tension in the air is so thick that Ohno wonders how exactly they are all functioning, but instead of asking, he simply slides into the seat next to Jun, and says, 

“I’m hungry. What are we all ordering?” 

The wide-eyed surprise at his appearance lasts only for a few seconds before Nino is throwing a menu at his face, the laminated stack of papers colliding with his forehead rather painfully. 

“We were waiting for you to show up before ordering. We had to order our drinks ahead so that the manager wouldn’t throw us out. What took you so long?”

“Had a date with the fishes.” Ohno answers bluntly with no evident guilt in his voice and raises his hand to call the waiter before anyone can reply. When the conversation resumes after their orders are placed, Ohno is pleased that the topic returns to their original topic of conversation - in this case, about their various apprenticeships. 

“How is your apprenticeship going, Ohno-kun?” Jun quietly asks from next to him, fingers tapping at the table without rhythm. Across the table, the others are discussing Aiba’s recently published papers in the International Potioneers’ Journal. “You’re working under Silvanus Abott…?” 

Ohno nods. His apprenticeship is progressing as it should, and now that he is approaching the end, all he has to do is take the mastery exams at Yule. Choosing to do an astronomy mastery was the easiest decision he has ever made - the skill is useful for navigating the seas, keeping track of the tides and giving himself a lot of time to manage work and his fishing. Fieldwork is essential for his apprenticeship work, but since light pollution from cities tend to cause the stars to disappear, more often than not, Ohno is near a coast or at sea…Which naturally allows him to fish during the day. 

He is not the type to openly admit his love for an academic subject, but Ohno figures that his general absence from the country and present tanned status will give enough clues to how much he is enjoying his apprenticeship. 

“Master Abott, yes. But I don’t have much left to do under him. Just revising and updating some star charts. And you’re working on Transfiguration mastery right?” 

Jun nods quietly, and lowers a hand to his lap. When his eyes furtively glances down to his thigh, Ohno obediently shifts his gaze to where Jun is gesturing to. For a short moment, Ohno only sees fair skin, but then the back of Jun’s hand sprouts fur in the next second, the fur growing around an inch thick and his nails sharpening into something more deadly looking. A blink later and the hand is back to normal, a small smile playing at the corner of Jun’s mouth as Ohno gapes at the tiny act of human transfiguration. 

“That—” Ohno starts, but is promptly silenced when Jun taps a finger against the side of his nose.  _A secret._

The older man wonders why Jun wants to keep it a secret. Mastering one’s animagus transformation is expected of any Transfiguration apprentice, but it is an extremely difficult task to achieve, and even partial transformations should be celebrated. Yet, here is Jun, shy, clearly seeking some form of validation from Ohno while hiding his achievement from the others. 

A younger Jun wouldn’t do such a thing; as the youngest member of the group, Jun’s insecurity shines more clearly than Ohno’s own. However, while Ohno is capable of ignoring the niggling sense of self-doubt, he is conscious of how some people cannot - like Jun, who requires more support to shine. In the past, Nino and Sho always acted as Jun’s polish and support, but now…

“So, MatsuJun, how is your apprenticeship going?”

Jun visibly stiffens at Sho’s question, soft smile smoothing over into an impassive expression that yields uncertainty in the faces of others. “It’s going alright. Master Pinus has been very kind to me, although she has very high expectations that I struggle to meet at times.”

“Veles Pinus, right? She wrote a chapter in the new Hogwarts NEWT textbook on Human Transformations. The Ministry is currently debating the safety of allowing minors to learn that subject in school, but I think they’re just old hats who are jealous that 17- and 18-year olds could potentially be allowed to learn something that was forbidden four decades ago.” Sho’s response is light-hearted, but his eyes do not betray his unease as he tries to maintain the conversation with Jun. 

Unlike the rest of them, Sho is currently in the auror training program under the Ministry, something that isn’t entirely unexpected of him, especially with his excellent NEWT scores in DADA and well-rounded academic scores. Despite the high qualifications needed to enter the program, Ohno, alongside the others, have a sneaking suspicion that Sho will not be working as an auror - the Slytherin seems more invested in the educational department than his own auror-training. 

“The chapter hardly covers any offensive magic and is more about the basic theory of human transfigurations, including werewolves and veelas. That’s the foundation of transfiguration.” 

“You know politicians, J.” Nino interjects as he lazily shoves a chip into his mouth. “Making policies for the younger generation but living in the previous century. No offense, Sho-chan.” 

“None taken. The Ministry can be rather backwards in their politics, I understand that.” Lowering his voice, Sho looks around before leaning forward to whisper conspiratorially, “I say that about my father all the time.” 

The food comes just then, and their conversation momentarily halts as they dig into their dishes. Sometime after, Nino finishes his meal and proceeds to levitate Aiba’s curly fries into his mouth, smirking in self satisfaction when his childhood friend merely pouts. Jun barely blinks at the scene before moving half of his own fries onto Aiba’s plate. 

“Speaking of human transfigurations though, Matsujun,” Aiba starts a bit later when they are nursing the usual post-meal butterbeer. “You’re probably working on your animagus transformation now, right?” 

The reminder has everyone leaning forward in sudden interest,Nino pausing in his momentary game of footsie with Ohno beneath the table to rub his palms together in eager anticipation. Ohno feels bad for Jun when he notices Jun’s caught look, clearly not expecting the topic of conversation to refocus on him. Jun’s fingers visibly tighten around the clear glass, but besides Ohno, only Sho seems to notice, Sho’s eyes flickering down at the white knuckles before refocusing on Jun’s face. 

“...I am.” comes the soft reply. 

“And? Do you know what you are? There’s a potion to reveal your animagus form, you know? Or at least, it’s in its works. I’m working with Master Themis on it right now, but there are missing components that we’re waiting on from America.” 

“No potions yet, so I’ve been practicing meditation in order to figure out what my form will be.”

“Any luck?” Sho asks with eagerness, but Jun continues to rub at the condensation on the surface of his glass of butterbeer, eyes unfocused as he shakes his head. 

A lie, Ohno realizes. 

“Just a tail. Fur. A mammal.” Jun replies shortly, and feigns disinterest as he asks Aiba about the progress of his own experiment. 

When Ohno’s eyes meet Nino’s intense ones, there is nothing he can do but shrug in equal amounts of confusion. Jun has never kept many secrets from them, but many things have changed since Jun’s graduation.

 


	10. Aloof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrance Feast, and Hogwarts has gotten some new professors (read: Junpon and Nino).

“Good evening, everyone. To our old students: welcome back, and to the newly sorted first years: welcome to the start of your magical education. I hope all of you are excited for the new year. Before we begin our feast, I would like to start off with the usual important announcements and messages concerning the new year. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is still, of course, forbidden. And we have new staff members as well, to replace Shingo-sensei and Goro-sensei after their departure as our Transfiguration and Charms Masters. Professor Matsumoto and Professor Ninomiya will take their places, respectively. They are both graduates from this school, so we are very glad and honoured to have them here.”

xxx

“Matsumoto… Hey, is that  _our_  Matsumoto? Like Hufflepuff Headboy Matsumoto when we were firsties? The one who got us cookies from the kitchen when we were bemoaning Shingo-sensei’s tough assignment?”

“It… looks like him? But doesn’t look like him. He looks like he’s glowing. And no offense but… he looks  _hot._ ”

“I know what you mean. Just look at the girls. They’re all staring at him.”

“I heard from a relative that he had a late veela inheritance.”

“He’s a veela?!”

“Shhhhh. Don’t shout it out loud, Merlin. Not a full veela, obviously. I think he’s a quarter? Or was it an eighth Veela? I don’t know the details but…”

“Who cares? He’s  _HOT._ ”

“I don’t remember him ever looking so… stern though. Wasn’t he the nicer of the ‘Puff prefect in his year?”

“All Hufflepuff prefects are nice, what are you talking about?”

“…Nevermind. Good point.”

“Nino looks like he hasn’t aged a single day though. Jeez. What’s in his food? Potion of eternal youth?”

“Don’t call him Nino! He’s not a student anymore. He’s our professor!”

“He doesn’t look a day over 17!”

 


	11. Muse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations before Ship-things actually start happening.

_Conversations at the Great Hall during the Entrance Feast, at the beginning of Jun and Nino’s second year as Professors.  
_  
“Seriously man, the first years are just getting smaller by the year.”   
  
“Yoko - have you ever thought that  _maybe_ , just  _maybe,_  you’re the one growing bigger?”   
  
“Of course that can’t be the case. What on earth are you talking about?”   
  
“... Oi, Shingo, could you help me out here?”   
  
“He’s a lost case. You know this.”   
  
“I had to try.”  
  
xxx  
  
“Is it me or is Ohno-sensei… browner, these days?”   
  
“You mean he got tanned over the summer holidays.”   
  
“Oh, is that what it is? I thought someone tried to transfigure him into a curry-pan and failed.”  
  
“I mean, that’s also a possibility. Or he just had a good time fishing this summer. You’d think an astronomy professor would be pale given how he has to work at night and all.”   
  
“Can you imagine Ohno-sensei as pale as Ninomiya-sensei though? No way.”  
  
“True, true and — oh dear, he nearly fell asleep in his pumpkin juice again.”   
  
xxx   
  
“Is that a gaming device in Ninomiya-sensei’s hand? HOW? How does he get it to work here without the batteries malfunctioning?”   
  
“Maybe you could bribe him to tell you. Would probably work.”   
  
xxx  
  
“So. I found out something interesting over the holidays.”   
  
“If it’s about Matsumoto-sensei, best keep your volume down. The ‘Puffs are looking around warily. Badgers are scary.”   
  
“Crap, right. But so… turns out he’s quarter-veela.”  
  
“...Um… is that news?”   
  
“What? You knew that already?”   
  
“Bro. Half the school and more knew. The allure is hard to ignore if you have any interest in men, you know?”   
  
“So how do you know?”   
  
“...”   
  
“Is there something you want to tell me?”   
  
“Oh look, the Headmaster is going to start his speech soon!”   
  
xxx  
  
“Rumor has it that the Ravens have started a betting pool on when Sakurai and Matsumoto-sensei are going to get together.”  
  
“What? Those two? Where did they get that idea? Matsumoto-sensei looks as though he wants to get away from Sakurai-sensei, not jump into his arms.”   
  
“The seventh years had them as their seniors when they were in their second and third years. Sounds hard to believe, but they used to be really close. Until the ice age happened.”  
  
“Ice age?”   
  
“No one knows the details. Not even Ninomiya-sensei, Aiba-sensei or Ohno-sensei. And those five were - still are - really close when they were students here. But that’s besides the point. I really want to get into that betting pool.”   
  
“But really now, what are the chances they’d actually get together?”  
  
“We’re talking about Sakurai-sensei here.”  
  
“... and?”   
  
“Have you seen him with creatures? Even the grumpiest of occamies love him.”   
  
“I really don’t follow. What’s creatures and occamies gotta do with Matsumoto-sensei?”   
  
“Matsumoto-sensei is part-veela.”  
  
“Oh….OH.”  
  
“Yep.”  
  
“...But a ‘puff and a snake though. What a combination.”  
  
xxx  
  
“Man, I’m so excited for this year’s potions class. Aiba-sensei is so much better than the previous professor.”   
  
“That’s because he lets us do more fun, but dangerous potions, you dimwit.”   
  
“No one’s ever gotten injured!”   
  
“...True. I mean, besides Marius with those singed eyebrows and all…”   
  
“Exactly. And I heard this year… We get to brew his original animagi-revealing potion! Do you suppose he’ll let us try it?”   
  
“Unless he want the School Board to fire him, he won’t. But don’t worry, Massu - I’m sure you’ll be a very fine chinchilla of sorts.”  
  
“Chinchilla?!” 


	12. Prowl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AND SO THE SHOJUN FLOOF BEGINS. 
> 
> //Jun accidentally gets caught in a storm while in his animagus form.

Sometimes Jun forgets that even with environmental wards to shield the castle and its surroundings from poor weather, the castle grounds can experience rain showers and storms (an excellent example would have been his first day at Hogwarts. That was a most unusual thunderstorm.)  
  
While he can easily cast a weather-proofing spell with the quick swish-flick of his wand, casting magic while in his animagus form is beyond his capabilities, and as a result, Jun finds himself soaked to the ends of his fur as he hides behind one of the stone pillars in the hallway that leads to his staff quarters. Like his Hufflepuff students, he resides in the dungeons of the castle to watch over them, as the close proximity allows him to check on them quickly during emergencies. Unfortunately, that also puts him in close area as Sho as the Slytherin dormitory are in the dungeons as well, and this brings him into his current predicament where Jun is unable to transform back into his human form without ending up entirely drenched and dripping water all over the stone floor.   
  
It would be horribly embarrassing if he is caught, and by Sho, no less. Catch-22, Jun thinks as he shakes his body to remove most of the rainwater, only to growl in annoyance when the action causes his fur to stand up straight and make him appear like a Puffskein. If he transforms back into a human, he may be caught in his drenched state. If he stays in his current form, someone may mistake him for a lost familiar or stray and then that would be a mess. Chuffing, Jun paws at his nose in an action that is perhaps most reminiscent of him rubbing his face in frustration, before peeking into the hallway once again.   
  
He is quite desperate to return to his warm chambers once again. The dungeon’s stone floors are incredibly cold and uncomfortable for someone as small as he is. Add to the fact that he is wet does not help with his sensitivity to the cold either.   
  
 _Perhaps if he makes a break for it, he can run quick enough—_  
  
A large, warm palm suddenly slides beneath his belly to lift him in a single movement, and Jun's bright purple eyes meet dark brown ones as he is brought close to a face.   
  
 _Crap._  
  
The curse comes out as a hiss and his tail instinctively curls inward and underneath his belly as Sho clucks his tongue at Jun and tilts his head in a cute, thoughtful manner. Jun's ears droop in shock and barely repressed fear at having been caught, but even as he accidentally bares his fangs at Sho, the man seems unperturbed, and croons,  
  
"Hello little one. Where did you come from?"  
  
Instinctively, Jun knows that the best response is to bite Sho's hand and make a break for his quarters when Sho lets him go, before his identity is discovered. However, human logic tells him that doing so will likely get him stunned, although… Jun remembers a younger Sho telling him that one should never attempt to stun a creature, especially if it's small. So, Jun could possibly run, but then his stride is small compared to that of an adult human, and Sho can easily catch him without the aid of magic.  
  
Furthermore, animal and veela logic tells him that this is  _Sho_ , someone he shouldn't be running away from, especially when Sho cradles him to his robed chest and gently scratches beneath Jun’s furred chin with a single finger. His soaked fur quickly leeches rainwater into Sho's teaching robes, but the man seems indifferent to wetness, and Jun feels too comfortable in Sho's radiating warmth to exhibit grouchiness.   
  
No, instead he lets out a soft meow, and to his horror, instinctively burrows into the clothed chest in search for heat to warm his shivering form. When Sho speaks, the vibrations reverberate through Jun's small form and incites a series of shivers that are not due to the cold or fear.   
  
"You must be freezing with how soaked you are, poor thing. Let's get you dry and warm. I have some fluffy towels that you'd like, I'm sure." Sho's comment should alarm Jun, who really shouldn't be going to Sho's quarters in this form, or in any form, for that matter. However, instead of jumping out of the large palm that carries him, Jun merely meows weakly as a form of protest, and sinks his claws slightly into Sho's palm.   
  
Perhaps the sharp pain - not enough to hurt him of course - will trigger Sho's release of Jun, but naturally that is not the case. The man doesn't even flinch as he rests his free hand on Jun's head and strokes in gentle, heavy, comforting strokes as he softly soothes Jun in low tones, totally unsuspecting of the identity of the tiny cat in his hands.   
  
He must have mistaken Jun's reaction as fear. "Don't be afraid now. I won't hurt you. I just want to dry you off and make sure you're alright. Staying in a wet, bedraggled state will make you sick, you know."  
  
Jun remembers Sho talking like this with the other creatures - he never tells them off, never orders them to do things, and always speaks to them as though they are human and capable of replying (although some magical creatures are highly intelligent and can learn to comprehend human speech quite easily. Jun is, however, currently a very small cat). The gentleness of his tone and soft rocking of his body as Sho walks into his quarters quickly lulls Jun into a pliant state, and Jun now understands completely why creatures put in Sho's hands tend to fall asleep quickly; there is no 'magic’ involved. Sho's calloused hands are large and warm around Jun, and does not possess any sharp scents that would bother the sensitive olfactory systems of most creatures, such as food, potions or strong soaps.  
  
Instead, he smells like quill ink and the woodsy sweet smell of cedarwood, the latter likely due to Sho's wand. Jun cannot help but lick at the long fingers that rub lightly at his forehead, the irrational desire to taste Sho's skin overcoming him momentarily.  
  
The soft rush of warm air alerts Jun when they finally enter Sho's quarters, a fire flickering into existence with a snap of Sho's fingers and warming up the room properly. Despite the fact that this is the perfect opportunity to look around and observe Sho's taste in furniture, Jun is strangely overwhelmed with shyness, knowing that he technically shouldn't be in here, especially when Sho doesn't know that this cat is in fact Jun. And so Jun presses his muzzle into Sho's chest instead, paws kneading at the wet fabric and mewling pitifully to be dried.  
  
“Just down this hallway, little one. I don't want to risk drying you with a spell.” Sho soothes, and the next thing Jun knows, Sho is tugging a fluffy, maroon towel off from its hanger and draping it teasingly over Jun's large ears. Jun simply growls and swipes at the towel with his paws, careful not to catch any thread with his claws.  
  
It does not take long for Sho to towel-dry Jun in front of the fire, then loosely comb his light tan, striped and spotted fur into a semi-respectable state with his fingers. Jun is a limp and pliant puddle of cat in Sho's lap at the end of the process, feeling quite drowsy and satisfied despite the wrongness of the situation, but at this juncture, he cannot find it within him to leave. Not when Sho lifts him up and presses his forehead against Jun’s, eyes in such close proximity that Jun's younger, human-self might have passed out from hyperventilation if such a situation was to happen.   
  
He wrinkles his nose at the thought.  _Embarrassing._  His whiskers flickers with his perfunctory nose wrinkle, and tickles Sho's cheeks, earning a deep chuckle that causes warmth to bloom in Jun’s chest.   
  
“You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.” Sho praises, and Jun lets out a soft mewl in response.   
  
"Do you have an owner then?” Sho asks as he lowers Jun onto the floor. “I don't recall seeing a cat familiar on record with purple eyes. But you must be magical, with those eyes and intelligence."  
  
Despite the stone flooring, Jun is not cold at all, warmed by the nearby fire and Sho's body heat. For some strange reason, Jun finds himself padding after Sho with the curiosity of a newborn kitten despite his rationality telling him to  _run the fuck away now._  As conflicted as he is, this is the closest Jun's been to Sho in years, and there is no reason why he shouldn't keep the man company for a little bit. Sho seems oblivious to Jun's animagus identity, and despite Sho's talk of finding Jun's 'owner', he has instead acquired a shallow dish of milk that Jun knows is appropriate for the infants of magical creatures.   
  
Sho positions it close to the fire for Jun's benefit, but there is no way Jun intends to  _drink_  something meant for creature consumption. When Sho looks at him expectantly, Jun expresses his distaste with a hiss (directly at the dish) and pointedly pushes the offensive food way with a paw.  
  
“You don't like?” Sho inquires with amusement and snorts when Jun pointedly looks away into the fire, sitting his rump down and stretching his body out to rest his head on his paws. The dish is banished with a wave of Sho's hand, and Jun nearly jerks in surprise when Sho joins him on the floor, sitting cross-legged next to him.   
  
“No? Maybe some solid food then? How about some canned tuna?”  
  
Jun hisses at the question, feeling offended as he bares his fangs at Sho and lowers his ears in distaste.  _Canned tuna? Who does Sho think he is?_  
  
“Oh, you're a picky one, aren't you? I'll ask the house elves if we have any fancy fish for you, then."  
  
Instantly, Jun's expression transforms into one of wide-eyed innocence, ears perking up as he shifts closer to Sho and licks his hand in eager acceptance. 'Fancy fish’, he can deal with, especially when Jun knows they had eel for dinner today.   
  
“Spoiled kitten.” Sho teases afterwards as Jun eats the shredded, Japanese grilled eel off his hand. Jun doesn't even hiss at the comment, ignoring it in favour of butting his head against Sho's wrist for more fish.   
  
xxx  
  
When Aiba takes his usual seat next to Sho in the morning, he nearly balks at the amount of gloom Sho is emanating as Sho draws a cat-shaped figure (or at least, Aiba  _thinks_  it is a cat. Sho’s art skills have always been slight questionable) into his pile of scrambled eggs. Instead of the usual cheerful greeting, Sho sighs wearily at Aiba’s perky “Good morning, Sho-chan!”, and only looks up momentarily to acknowledge his presence before returning to his now sad-looking messy lump of eggs.   
  
This is highly unusual, Aiba thinks. Ever since they became friends, Aiba has only seen Sho look this disheartened directly after the fiasco that he, Nino and Ohno colloquially describes as the ‘Ice Age’ (also known as, ‘who-casted-a- _Glacius_ -on-Junpon’, and a phenomenon that will hopefully end soon, they hope. Or rather, have been hoping for  _years_  now). Sho usually expresses his discontent with unerring impassivity and improved motivation, a trait that Aiba finds himself in awe, and wary of. This Sho though, sad and kicked-puppy looking, is easy to work with.   
  
Taking an intentionally noisy sip of his tea (loaded with milk but no sugar), Aiba gracelessly rests an elbow on the Great Table and scratches his chin in curiosity as he directs his questioning gaze at Sho. “What’s up? You look as though someone stole your cheesecake, Sho-chan.”  
  
“The cat was gone in the morning.”  
  
Aiba blinks at the nonsensical statement and repeats the answer slowly to himself once more before raising a confused eyebrow.  
  
“What cat?”   
  
The last time he checked, Sho didn’t  _own_  a cat or pet in any shape or form; not that he really needs, given that most creatures become as docile puppies the moment Sho offers his hand to them. That in itself poses the next question - a cat that actually  _ran away_  from Sho?   
  
“The small one. With the pretty eyes.” Sho answers unhelpfully, before finally gazing seriously at Aiba, eyes filled with worry. “He was drenched when I found him in the dungeons yesterday - the poor thing was probably caught in the rain and looked like a soaked, furry rag. I don’t know how long he was there before I found him and dried him off, but the poor thing is small and the dungeon floors are hardly the warmest place in the world. He could have caught a cold or —*  
  
The concerned explanatory ramble is something Aiba is more familiar with, especially when it comes to Sho and his attachment to creatures. Aiba quickly rests a hand on Sho’s wrist to halt the barely intelligible stream and clarifies, “Are we talking about a normal, non-magical cat, or possibly a magical one?”  
  
“Magical. Definitely magical. Probably a familiar, with how tame and spoiled he was.”  
  
“Then he’ll be fine. He probably returned to his wizard or witch then, and if he is as spoiled as you say he is, then his owner likely takes good care of him.” Aiba reasons logically, retracting his hand and finally starting on his own breakfast when he sees Sho sitting up straighter, nodding slowly in hesitant agreement.   
  
“I suppose so. Cats are quite stubborn and resilient that way, aren't they?” Sho sounds more sure of himself and chuckles as he finally begins to down the messed-up remnants of his breakfast. “The little critter meowed at me so angrily when I gave him a basket to sleep in. Wouldn't stop following me until I let him sleep on my pillow.”  
  
Aiba knows many people who would be jealous of a cat who gets to share a bed with Sakurai Sho, but he does not verbalize the comment, knowing that it will not be appreciated. Noting Sho's wistful tone, Aiba reassures him with a optimistic: “Definitely someone's familiar then. You might see him around again, if he's from the area.”   
  
A series of soft sneezes attracts their attention before Sho can reply to Aiba, their heads turning to the other side of the Great Table where a bleary-eyed, red-nosed Jun is taking his seat while trying to put a stopper to his runny-nose. Nino wordlessly pours the Transfiguration professor a steaming cup of tea, an impressive feat considering that Ohno is asleep on his shoulder (there was an Astronomy class the night before).   
  
“Speaking of cats catching colds, looks like Matsujun caught one.” Aiba murmurs around a piece of bacon. When Sho doesn't respond, Aiba peeks over in time to watch worry flit over Sho's face, the frown settling in once more.  
  
“Someone should get him a pepper-up before it turns into something worse. Goodness knows he’d never willingly turn himself in at the hospital wing.” Sho mumbles in concern.  
  
 _Mother-hen._  Aiba suddenly sits up straight as an idea - a brilliant idea, he must say - strikes him, one that he is sure Nino and Ohno will approve of as the starting point of Operation 'Melt-the-ice’. Aiba's mother might have always told him that interfering with other people's relationships is a bad thing to do, and Aiba agrees with her wholeheartedly… But their friendship is important too, and important enough for Aiba (and surely his two compatriots) to want to have a hand in fixing it.   
  
“That’s a great idea, Sho-chan! I have a bottle in my lab stores; why not I give it to you, so you can give it to Jun after breakfast?”  
  
“Uh… sure, but why not you just give it to him direct—”  
  
“I have the fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins after this.” Aiba says seriously, and Sho instantly grimaces. “I'll probably need to set up some wards and all. But I know you and Matsujun have no classes directly after this, so you can be the one to give it to him. Your chambers are the nearest to his after all!”   
  
Noting no flaws in Aiba's logic, Sho readily agrees to the plan, and Aiba internally cheers at his own genius. The others will surely be proud of his quick-thinking.   
  
xxx  
  
It had sounded like a great idea when Aiba mentioned it to Sho during breakfast, but now that Sho is finally standing in front of the portrait that is the entrance to Jun’s quarters, he feels terribly awkward and doubtful of the current situation. It is not out of spite for Jun, not at all, but rather because he knows that his relationship with the Transfiguration professor, a.k.a. the-boy-who-liked-him, is the epitome of all rocky relationships. Others may call him dense or oblivious, but Sho is at least aware of that. Anyone would be conscious of Jun’s startling personality change during his last few years in Hogwarts.   
  
“You know, if you want me to call him out, you should say so.” The primly-dressed man in the portrait harrumphs as he rearranges the vase of sunflowers. When Sho says nothing, the figure levels him a stare and crosses his arms across his chest, and prompts, “Well?”  
  
“Yes please, thank you.” Sho mumbles hurriedly. Once again the man in the portrait huffs before quickly vanishing into the frame, but not before Sho manages to catch a muttered: “Honestly, I don’t know what’s the appeal, really.”  
  
Huh. Somehow, Sho feels like he should be offended.  
  
Not a few moments later, the portrait swings inwards to reveal an irritated, red-eyed Jun who is holding a handkerchief to his nose. When his cheeks flush red suddenly, Sho feels sudden concern blooming in his chest, worried for a potential fever, yet Jun only stiffens in what Sho fears is annoyance.   
  
They stare each other in silence for several seconds before Sho remembers why he is here, and raises the pepper up to thrusts it forward in Jun's direction with none too much grace.   
  
“Here. It's pepper-up. From Aiba's stores. Just in case you didn't have one within arm's reach.” Sho curses at his sudden inability to speak eloquently and exhales slowly to calm himself. He isn't sure why he is nervous, but Jun is only looking at him strangely, not reaching out to take the potion vial.  
  
"Why are you giving this to me?"  
  
"Well, because you look like you need it? Um, you don't have that visible of an allure but... It dulls when you're ill. It bothers me.” The reply is more honest than Sho had expected. Jun's veela blood is the most poorly-kept secret in Hogwarts, given that the current seventh years went to school with Jun when he was their Head Boy. The change in Jun’s physical aura is hard to miss, and the mature veela (or part-veela) allure is easily palpable to anyone who may be attracted to him. Sho is not spared from that latter group.  
  
(Actually, the most poorly-kept secret is their 'relationship’, but Sho has selective hearing when it comes to staff and student gossip.)  
  
However, he must have said something wrong as the corners of Jun's mouth drop even further, and his eyes harden. There may have been a spark of uncertainty, but Sho might have just imagined it. "Because it makes me less nice to look at?"  
  
Sho balks. "What?! Nono, of course not. You look amazing in any condition, but… You should take something for your cold before it gets worse." The words don’t necessarily seem to appease Jun, but his shoulders relax after several tense moments. It is only then does Sho regain the courage to grab Jun's hand and press the potion vial against it. "Just take care of yourself, all right?"  
  
Jun’s fingers clasp around the glass slowly, but his voice is brittle when he addresses Sho. "I'm not your tutee anymore, Sakurai-sensei. I can take care of myself."  
  
"I know that. But that doesn't mean I can't worry for a friend."  
  
“Perhaps.” The hardness in Jun's eyes melts into a sad expression that Sho doesn't understand, but before he can ask for clarification, Jun is already moving to close the portrait, shoulders sagging as he blows his nose. “Thank you for the pepper-up. Please tell Aiba I said the same to him. I'll see you at dinner.”  
  
The portrait closes before Sho can say anything else, the words “Take care.” falling several seconds too late and echoing in the empty hallway. 


	13. Strawberries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun gets drunk and ends up in Sho's bed. 'nuff said.

In hindsight, Jun should have known better. He wouldn’t say that he is a lightweight - not as lightweight as Nino, definitely - but sometimes he drinks whatever is in his hand without thinking twice about how much he has drunk already, and as as result, he gets drunk far too quickly. Tonight’s staff party is no different.   
  
Usually, Jun is more cautious when it comes to drinking with his coworkers, but today, Ohno is strangely liberal with handing Jun glass after glass of strawberry mead, and Jun can rarely deny anything from his fellow ‘puff senior. (Jun also confesses that he loves the drink, as it barely tastes of alcohol and tastes like sparkling strawberry wine.) Within two hours, he is already dizzy with intoxication and mumbling excuses to leave the party before he says or does something stupid in front of his employer and colleagues.   
  
But that’s where his memory ends for the rest of the night.   
  
xxx  
  
Sho is just leaving his shower when his wards signal two presences outside his quarters. The staff party ended only an hour ago, but since it is already past midnight, Sho is quite confused as to who would be visiting him at such a late hour. It certainly cannot be a student since it is past curfew, and from what he witnessed, most of the staff were in various states of intoxication or drowsiness by the end of the night, and there should be nothing pressing to require such a late visit. Yawning, Sho doesn’t bother putting on a shirt as he makes his way to his quarter’s entrance while drying his wet hair with a towel.   
  
“Ye—”  
  
Sho stumbles on his greeting when Ohno promptly deposits a furry creature onto Sho’s bare chest without any other word. The action catches him off-guard, palm flying to secure the animal before it falls, but any form of bewilderment is replaced by concern when he realizes the creature - well, kitten —is this  _his kitten?_  - isn’t moving besides the shallow rise and fall of his breaths. Running his fingers across the cat’s forehead, Sho doesn’t register Ohno’s explanation until the cat (he needs to name it soon) shifts on his naked chest and opens his eyes into fine slits, just enough to reveal the startling purple, and then mewls sleepily.  
  
Sighing in relief, Sho cradles the feline closer to his chest and finally asks, “Could you repeat that?”   
  
Ohno does not appear fazed by Sho’s sudden distraction, and instead breaks into a soft, unreadable smile as he repeats, “I found him asleep near the astronomy tower. Aiba mentioned your kitten with the purple eyes so…”  
  
“He’s not really  _my_  kitten, per se, but thank you. Did you get lost, little one?” Sho directs the last question to the feline trying to roll (and failing) against his chest, only to nearly fall off, and then nipping Sho’s hand lightly when he catches him in a hurry, as though it was Sho’s fault. Sho doesn’t even wince, and softly chides, “Don’t do that. You’re the one moving around.”  
  
“I guess I’ll head back to the astronomy tower now. Equinoctial meteor shower tonight. Good night, Sho-kun.” Ohno pauses to look down at the feline, who is now blinking sleepily at the older man who proceeds to softly scratch beneath his chin. “Be good for Sho-kun now, Macchan.”   
  
“Macchan?” Sho pauses, and then balks, “Jun-kun won’t appreciate being likened to a cat.”  
  
“Really? But, I would say that he resembles him well, don’t you think so?” Ohno comments with an innocent tilt of his head, forehead wrinkling between his brows as though confused at Sho’s resistance. “All cute but will claw you. But really just a softie inside.”   
  
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Sho has to admit though, the description is quite accurate. The cat - well, okay, he will call the kitten  _‘Macchan’_  for convenience’s sake - does remind him of Jun, although Macchan is certainly more open towards Sho’s presence and touch than Jun is. Scratching between Macchan’s ears, Sho fights a smile when he feels the satisfied, slow purr emanating from the warm body. “As long as you like the name, I guess.”  
  
As soon as Ohno departs for his tower, Sho resets his wards with a nonchalant wave of his hand before lifting a sleepy Macchan with both hands to eye level. Purple peeks through the half-opened eyes, and Sho raises an eyebrow accusingly when Macchan yawns, all sharp teeth and pink tongue. “Your breath smells like strawberry. Have you been stealing from the kitchens?”   
  
The bleary blink he receives is too cute for Sho to keep up the stern facade, and he settles for cradling the cat against his chest and reveling in the feeling of the soft fur. It is odd, actually - how attached he feels to a creature that is not even his, and someone he has only met twice. But there is something so endearing about this little thing; small enough to nearly be cradled in a single hand and remarkably intelligent. In small ways, Macchan reminds Sho of his namesake; fierce and somewhat picky, but generous with their love.   
  
Well, at least the younger Jun was.   
  
Sighing, Sho lowers the cat onto the ground, and loosely gestures for Macchan to follow him into his bedroom, knowing that he will only be scratched if he doesn't let Macchan into his bed. “Come on now. Bedtime for both of us.”   
  
“Mreow.”  
  
“Don’t give me that now, you can walk on your own, can’t you?” Sho replies to the disgruntled meow, crossing his arms across his chest as he raises an accusing eyebrow at Macchan, now splat out and peering up at Sho with a visage of innocence. “Consider it payback for disappearing on me the last time we met.”  
  
“Mrew?”   
  
Sho continues to watch him unimpressed, and the cat finally stands up with a disgruntled whine, ears tilted down and tail low as he makes his way towards Sho. Convinced that he will follow, Sho turns around and continues towards the direction of the room. He halts when he hears a soft ‘thud’, followed by sharp yowl that causes Sho to look back in concern.   
  
Macchan is sitting on his rump while facing the leg of the couch, ears flickering in distaste as he hisses at the furniture as though it offended him. When he turns to Sho again, the black pupils are blown wide, only a tiny fraction of the amethyst visible, making him only look more piteous and sad as he swipes listlessly at the furniture, and mewls in Sho’s direction. He stands on his four feet again, but when the feline walks, there is an unmistakable unsteadiness in his gait, path slanting as though he is drunk.  
  
Sho can’t be sure if it’s intentional, but when Macchan collides face first into the wall  _again,_  Sho decides that he has to intervene before the cat really injures himself.   
  
Sighing, Sho backtracks to the kitten, who is now blinking in confusion at the wall. “Really now? Did someone give you catnip? One would say you’re drunk.” Sho mumbles as he lifts Macchan up into his arms. The feline mewls in response, and helpfully settles into the cradle. “You had better not be acting, you little rascal.”  
  
And he should be annoyed, Sho thinks, when the kitten attempts to climb his face as Sho tries to fall asleep - the taste of fur isn’t the most appetizing thing in the world, and neither is the sensation of paws stepping on his nose and mouth as Macchan decides that Sho’s face is the ideal pillow. However, there is no irritation, Sho realizes, as the warm figure slides down in the failure of a climbing attempt and promptly gives up. The quick beat of the cat’s heart rate is a lullaby to Sho, soft and fluttering and  _there._    
  
Turning his head to the side, Sho softly noses the strawberry-scented warm figure curled into the crook of his neck, and whispers a soft good night.   
  
xxx  
  
Jun really needs to stop waking up in Sho’s bed.  
  
...No, really, he should stop. For one, he isn’t sure if his dignity and heart can take the process of waking curled up in the crook of Sho’s shoulder, the cedarwood and musky scent even stronger and perhaps more intoxicating than the dried catnip that Jun smelled in Aiba’s potion stores the last time he went there (he was human then, so sniffing the sweet and herb-scented dried branch did nothing to him besides relax him greatly). Secondly, while Jun has never switched forms while asleep, there is still a likelihood of such a phenomenon happening if he is completely inebriated or tired, so waking up groggy and feeling what is likely the equivalent of a cat hangover tells Jun that he was completely smashed last night.   
  
He doesn’t even remember when he decided to turn into a cat. The last clear memory he has is of the dungeon hallway, on the way back from the staff party, yet here he is - in Sho’s quarters, in Sho’s bed, waking up next to the man for the second time in the span of a few months.   
  
Granted, the first time, Jun was practically adamant to be put on Sho’s bed - there is no way he’ll sleep in a  _basket._  Such a thought is mortifying. However, last time, he had been certain to settle at the foot of Sho’s bed, and as far away as possible from Sho’s body and on top of the sheets to minimize body contact… and then Jun woke up the next morning  _beneath_  the sheets and quite happily nuzzling Sho’s arm, warm and groggy until he realized that it was Sho. Jun ran away so quickly then, and he holds no guilt - none, he insists (but internally knows that he is lying) even as Nino pointed out how downtrodden Sho looked that morning at the Great Table.   
  
And he flees away just as fast now.   
  
Or, at least, as quickly as he can without throwing up over Sho’s floor, his balance not entirely present when he hops off the bed and promptly face-plants against the, thankfully, carpeted flooring. The upholstery mutes his clumsy landing, but Jun freezes nonetheless when he hears Sho shuffle in bed, fearing that the man would have awoken by Jun’s movement to discover his getaway.   
  
He has to force himself to look away, however, when Sho murmurs a soft “Macchan” in his sleep. His heart hurts, even more so than his head at the soft address. When was the last time Sho called him that? Called him so freely, addressing Jun with a closeness they once had but no longer.   
  
And it’s his fault.


	14. Overflow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The potion's incident.

It starts off with a note from Aiba, and that in itself should have given Jun a clue to the trouble ahead. The note does not contain any incriminating information, really, it simply contains a message requesting Jun to help with Aiba’s fifth year potions class involving the Animagus Potion, just to make sure that if any student gets the potion on them, there will be someone who is trained in Transfiguration to help them get out of the predicament. Of course, ideally, no student gets the potion on them.  
  
But accidents do happen. It is for that reason that Jun accepts the request for help despite the prickling feeling of wariness that something bad might happen. It is not that he doesn’t have faith in Aiba; after all, the potion is Aiba’s own invention, and therefore he is the most competent person to foresee and troubleshoot any potential problems that are to occur as well.  
  
For practical reasons, however, Jun makes sure that he spells his robes liquid-proof as he enters the potions lab.  
  
“Matsujun! You’re early!” Aiba greets in surprise as he emerges from his potion stores while carrying a mountain of potion ingredient jars in his arms. “I was just about to distribute the potion ingredients.”  
  
Jun watches the pile of jars with a great deal of wariness, before hurrying to rescue half the pile as it begins to tip from Aiba’s arms. “Let me help. Why aren’t you using magic again?”  
  
“Because magic might affect the potency of the ingredients?” Aiba reasons as he gingerly places his jars onto the table and winces at the noise of glass clinking against each other. Jun can only stare dumbly at his friend’s response, and raises his eyebrows as he reminds Aiba:  
  
“That’s why the jars are spelled to be protect their ingredients from all forms of magic. And breaking.”  
  
Aiba pauses and then sheepishly grins at Jun’s impassive expression. “… Right. Forgot about that detail. Anyway, the distribution of the ingredients has to be done by hand, so you can help me with that, then? Gloves are in that corner.”  
  
“Is there a reason why you’re distributing them before class? Don’t you usually have the students collect the ingredients and weigh them out on their own?”  
  
“Regulations. Can’t let the kiddos figure out the exact composition of the potion since the Ministry doesn’t want to have unregistered animagi running around Hogwarts.”  
  
Jun grimaces at the answer and shakes his head as he begins to weigh out exactly 2 grams of ground and dried billywig slime. He remembers how troublesome it was when he had to register as an animagi. Paperwork to fill before he started his transfiguration apprenticeship, paperwork before he started working on his animagi transformation, and then after he achieved his Animagus form. He understands the need for stringency to some extent – unregistered animagi can cause a lot of trouble, and there is always the safety concern of someone becoming accidentally stuck in their Animagus forms. “The potion isn’t permanent, right?”  
  
“Not at all. Just meant to give someone about five minutes of seeing their own Animagus form, then turn back into a human. But accidents can happen, as you know. Animagi magic and all.”  
  
“So… Today you’re letting them see the potion but not actually use it.” Jun confirms with genuine amusement. “That’s cruel, Aiba-chan.”  
  
“They’ll live. If they want to see it, then they can become transfiguration master.”  
  
At that comment, Jun pauses, and then whips to his long-time friend with an accusative stare. “Wait. Since you invented it, you must have tried it at least once on yourself, haven’t you?” Aiba blinks slowly in an act of innocence, and despite their current positions, Jun cannot help but grin and shove the Gryffindor with feigned indignation. “You little cheat. What did you become?”  
  
“Me? I should be asking  _you_. None of us know your form, and you’re the one with the transfiguration mastery.”  
  
“I’m allowed to have my secrets.”  
  
“You wound us, Matsujun. You won’t even tell your closest friends your Animagus form?”  
  
 _Only because you guys would laugh,_  Jun thinks, and swallows his guilt as he watches Aiba offer up the largest of puppy-eyes. Turning away, Jun shakes his head and resumes the weighing out of lace-wings on the scale. “…Maybe one day.”  
  
+++  
  
Aiba never mentioned how it takes only a single drop of the potion on the skin for it to work. When Jun promised that he would one day show them his Animagus form, he never thought he would end up showing it to an entire classroom of fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins alongside his friend, nor that it would happen on the same day he made that promise.  
  
He sincerely hates his life right now.


	15. Evidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the Potions Incident.

When Sho walks into the DADA classroom that early summer afternoon, he does not expect to walk into a wall of loud chatter by his fifth years. It is surprisingly unusual, especially with their OWLs so nearby. However, Sho has already heard about Aiba’s infamous potions class taking place yesterday and predicted that the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins would have much to talk about, if Jun’s foul mood this morning at the Great Table wasn’t already an indication.  
  
Thank goodness Aiba’s class hadn’t been one with Hufflepuffs, else  _all_  of the professors would have had to deal with fights today. The ‘puffs would never take for their Head of House to be the main topic of the school’s gossip mill. Sighing, Sho deliberately drops the heavy textbook onto the table, the loud thud quickly capturing the attention of half the class who turn in shock. “Alright, alright. Everyone to your seats. What’s with all this chaos?”  
  
“Professor! Did you know that Professor Matsumoto has an Animagus form?”  
  
“And that it’s ADORABLE.”  
  
Sho simply raises an eyebrow at the gleeful sounds of agreement and fights to hide the smile that threatens to show itself. He should not be engaging his students in such chatter, but he cannot help himself, although he knows Jun will by no means be pleased if Sho lets this drag on for too long.   
  
“Of course, he is an Animagus. It is a requirement to complete a Mastery in Transfiguration. Also, Yokoyama-kun, please remember that Professor Matsumoto is not an ‘it’ but a ‘he’, and he would be very angry if he knew that you called his animagi form ‘adorable’.” Sho beams at the evident nervous gulps in the room. “You are also lucky that there are no Hufflepuffs in this room, because they would surely hex you if you continue to speak of Professor Matsumoto any longer. I advise that you all keep your opinions about this matter to yourselves before the number of points for Slytherin and Gryffindor dip into the negatives.”  
  
He shoots a warning look at his fifth year Slytherin prefects, knowing that Nishikido and Keiko will understand what Sho is trying to say without much difficulty. The threat works too well, Sho concludes as he faces a sea of suddenly-pale faces. Admittedly, he is extremely curious to know what Jun’s ‘adorable’ Animagus form is. Jun has always been extremely private about his personal life, animagi form included. Interestingly enough, none of Jun’s NEWT students ever mentioned his form, despite them surely having seen it for classroom purposes, which makes Sho wonder if Jun forced them to sign a binding contract.If so, the contracts might not be of much use anymore, because there is no way Jun can control the way this news is spreading. No wonder Aiba was absent from the Great Table this morning.  
  
Perhaps Jun is shy about his Animagus form, especially if it is something endearing? Jun is always so keen on maintaining a cool exterior, but a Hufflepuff will always be a Hufflepuff… Sho shouldn’t really subscribe to house archetypes, but it’s hard not to sometimes. Sho will respect Jun’s privacy nonetheless, but Sho suspects he will learn of the gossip sooner or later.  
  
“If you are all calm now, I would like to begin with the class. Your OWLs will be conducted in two weeks, so I hope you have already started your revision. If you have not, I wish you good luck.”  
  
xxx  
  
Dinner is an interesting affair. A quick look at the house points before dinner has Sho snorting in laughter – he is certain that there were more red and green gems in their respective canisters this morning, but it appears that his Snakes have at least heeded his advice, and minimized their point reduction. Jun must be in a horrible mood, but at least this means that dinner will be very entertaining.  
  
Sho’s amusement doubles when he notices that Nino has chosen to take up Aiba’s usual seat at the Great Table, meaning that he will be seated next to Sho for today’s dinner. Jun and Aiba are still absent, and Sho is greeted by Nino’s shit-eating grin as he takes his place and watches the students filter in, the hall filling up with quiet gossip.  
  
“You’re in the wrong spot.” Sho remarks benignly and bites his lip when Nino cackles.  
  
“You think I’m going to let Aiba-shi sit with you and leave me with the wrath of Jun-pon? Nono, this is far better entertainment.”  
  
“The students will talk.”  
  
“They’re already talking. The third year Ravens had a Charms class after a Potions class today, and they’ve informed me of why Aiba was absent this morning at breakfast.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
Nino’s answer is interrupted by Jun’s entrance into the Great Table, the temperature of the room dropping significantly when he realizes that Nino has opted to sit next to Sho, leaving the single seat next to Jun for Aiba to take once the man decides to make an appearance. Jun doesn’t throw Nino a dirty look, however, instead sitting stiffly as he coolly surveys the gossiping students in front of him. Sho isn’t surprised at how quiet Hufflepuffs are – they will never betray their  ~~overlord~~  Head of House.  
  
 _Cute._  
  
“Merlin, are you drooling over Jun-pon right now? Not in front of the kids, Sho-kun.” Nino snarks from next to Sho, slouching across his seat to tap at Ohno and whisper something into his ear. The Astronomy professor merely snorts at whatever Nino says, not quite awake yet as he scratches his ear and begins to pick his nose with his pinky finger.  
  
“I’m not drooling over him.”  
  
“And I am dating the Giant Squid.”  
  
Sho looks away from Jun momentarily to gaze at Nino in feigned surprise. “Congratulations. I always knew you had a penchant for cephalopods and tentacles.”  
  
The dry look Nino gives Sho in return is promptly ignored when Aiba finally appears. The Great Hall falls into a silent hush as the Potions Master trudges behind the staff table, and squeaks at the discovery of his usual seat being occupied by Nino. Sho chokes when he notices the long furry tail that emerges from under Aiba’s robe, stiff in fear as its owner turns pale at the realization that he will have to sit next to Jun.   
  
Sho can’t believe that Jun gave Aiba a  _tail._  
  
…He would like to learn that spell – it might be useful one day.  
  
xxx  
  
"To begin today's staff meeting, I'd like to discuss Aiba-sensei's recently acquired... appendage. It is distracting the students, and I'd like to resolve it as soon as possible." Headmaster Higashiyama begins awkwardly, sensing the ominous atmosphere that looms between his Head of Houses. Or rather, between a certain Head of House and his Potions Master. The rest of the staff are in various levels of amusement and interest, barely repressing their mirth.  
  
The Headmaster sighs. His staff are all trouble, really. "Aiba-sensei, explain yourself."  
  
"I swear Matsujun, I didn't mean to make the animagus potion a de-aging one as well. It's supposed to only allow whoever it comes into contact to turn into their animagus form, not turn them into the baby versions of their animag—"  
  
Several snorts of laughter echo within the room, but only Jun's face remain cold. If anything, his glare grows even more deadly. Ohno and Nino are already stifling their laughs into each other's shoulders, and Sho and Okada are trying - and failing - not to smile. Nagase and Sakamoto have already given up trying to stifle their amusement.  
  
"Aiba-sensei, I beg you shut up right now before I transfigure your tongue into a gag." Jun’s voice is dangerously cool, but there is nothing benign about the glare he is shooting at Aiba.   
  
"I'm really sorry! I swear, I really don't know how you ended up as a kitten--"  
  
The uproarious laughter is only interrupted by a flash of white light as Jun shoots a silencing charm at Aiba, followed by a purple hex that results in boils popping up on his nose and cheeks. Strangely enough, neither Ohno nor Nino sound surprised by the revelation, and while the rest of Sho’s colleagues are in various levels of ‘dying in laughter’, Sho simply sits still, eyes wide at the comment, hand covering his smile at the thought.  _A kitten? How adorable!_  
  
A cat is  _perfect_  for Jun.   
  
"Matsumoto-sensei, please refrain from hexing your colleagues." Higashiyama sighs, and pointedly gestures in Aiba's direction until Jun grudgingly mumbles the reversal spell.  
  
"Gotta admit though, you can probably patent your potion if it has that new function. The joke shop at Diagon Alley would pay good money for it, probably." Taichi comments offhandedly, refusing to look at the glaring Jun.  
  
"But I don't know why it did so!"  
  
"It doesn't have that extra function!" Jun snaps, cheeks pink with embarrassment and frustration. The others quickly look at him in confusion, but that only makes him turn an even brighter red.  
  
"But... You were the size of a... No, you looked like a kitten."  
  
"I was and am the proper size for an adult creature of my animagi!" This time, Jun’s answer is more of a defensive snarl. He seems to remember himself when he realizes that everyone is staring at him, and quickly looks away in half shame, half uncertainty. The laughter has stopped, the others seemingly having sensed Jun’s unease and discomfort. Higashiyama clears his throat once again – the meeting room is filled with an air of awkwardness, and it is his job to make sure that his staff members get along with each other.   
  
But no one necessarily blames Jun for his malaise; as a student, Jun was always slightly shy, lashing out and closing up whenever he felt threatened (much like a cat), but Higashiyama decides that it is fine time he opens up to his colleagues. “Perhaps… if you could just clear it up with your colleagues, Matsumoto-sensei?”  
  
“Cle-Clear it up?”   
  
Higashiyama nods patiently and gestures to the rest of the staff, trying his best to not feel bad at the sight of Jun’s sudden paleness. “Just a demonstration. To prevent future misunderstandings. I think you can trust your fellow colleagues, Matsumoto-sensei, don’t you agree?” 


	16. Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PROGRESS.

“I feel horrible. I am a horrible person. A terrible person.  _We_  are all terrible people.” Aiba mumbles quietly as he wrings his conjured tail. The tail is limp in his hands, as though reflecting his unease and guilt as Aiba watches the door through which Jun - in his animagus form - fled through only several moments before, with his ears low. “We shouldn't have laughed at him. Or forced him to change when he didn’t want to.”

The others look down onto the table in equivalent amounts of guilt plaguing them, the situation appearing less humorous once they caught sight of Jun’s distressed expression at having been laughed at for being  _incredibly cute._

… He  _is_  adorable, but perhaps it’s best they keep it a secret now. To be fair, Jun can transform all of them into beetles and use them as potions ingredients if he wants to, so it will be in their own best interest to not say anything against him. He is a sensitive person by nature, no matter how much he tries to hide it; while no one means any harm besides playful teasing, the revelation of a long-kept secret can take a toll on anyone’s self-consciousness.

Especially if it involves the identity of Sho’s not-so-secret cat.

“Um, perhaps… I should go find him before a student does?” Sho starts awkwardly, unable to look anyone in the eye – well, no one can look anyone in the eye after that reveal – and makes to stand. “I’ll, um, talk to him? Yes, I’ll talk to him.”

No one stops Sho when he scurries off, mumbling a quiet point-me charm and watching his wand reveal the direction of Jun’s movements. It continues to swivel for several moments even as Sho moves away from the Headmaster’s tower-office. From the looks of it, Jun seems to be heading towards the dungeons, but a quick swivel of Sho’s wand indicates that Jun’s transfiguration classroom is more likely to be Jun’s destination to hide in. His guess is confirmed when his wand finally stills in his palm, and within minutes, Sho is peeking into Jun’s transfiguration classroom, steps cautious as he looks around for any sign of a human or a furry figure.

“Jun-kun?”

For a short moment, Sho wonders if his point-me spell failed, but he then catches the softest of scuttling noises emerging from the teacher’s desk, followed by a muffled, feline chuff.

A tiny part of Sho feels as though he should feel betrayed, perhaps, or upset at Jun not telling Sho of his identity – of the identity of his purple-eyed kitten - yet he possesses none of those aforementioned feelings. His heart is instead heavy with concern and sadness that Jun has felt the need to hide his form from them for ages (and for what purpose?), and that now that his secret has been spilled by force, Jun chose to  _run away_ rather than face them as he is. The Jun Sho used to know never ran away from such a scenario even as an adolescent, but then again… Jun has always been extremely perceptive towards the opinions of others concerning himself, and even a side-comment can haunt him for years, affecting his drive and shaping his actions in ways no one can understand.

Sho knows this from first-hand experience.

Dropping onto his knees, Sho murmurs a mild  _Lumos,_  and directs the muted light from the end of his wand to beneath the wooden desk. The sight of a curled-up ball of fur has a sigh fall out of Sho. “Jun-kun.”

Soft, small ears perk up at the name, but when Jun raises his head, it is only enough to reveal his sad-looking, amethyst-coloured eyes. He does not meow pitifully at Sho, keeping remarkably quiet as Sho makes himself comfortable on the cold stone flooring. Now that Sho knows that this is Jun – that Macchan is Jun, as if there was any doubt, really – he recognizes the sharp and intelligent gaze as Jun gauges Sho’s reaction to the reveal.

“Won’t you come out here? It must be cold and dirty down there.” Sho carefully cajoles, making sure not to treat Jun like a creature – although he already has, and Sho’s already wondering how his eyes haven’t been scratched out yet, after feeding Jun anago by hand and offering him  _creature’s milk_  – and sighing when Jun pointedly turns away.

“The others are sorry for laughing at you.” Sho starts carefully. “I’m sure if you came back to the staff meeting, the meeting would proceed as per normal, and it would be as though nothing happened.”

Jun lets out a low yowl, sorrowful as he shuffles even further from Sho at the reminder of what he left behind. His expression is defeated with his face so low onto the ground that Sho himself feels bad for making that awful reminder. “Sorry. But no one is going to think differently of you, Jun-kun.”

His answer earns Sho a hiss, but Sho shakes his head resolutely.

“I swear. Look at you now. You’re still the fierce and most headstrong person I know.” Sho reasons gently and offers a palm to him. “If they or any of the students think otherwise, I’m sure no one will stop you from transfiguring them into cardboard and tearing them to pieces.”

The words do not do much to comfort Jun, who instead crawls towards Sho slowly, only to forlornly gaze at him and mewl softly as though in apology.

“I wish you told me. But I swear I’m not angry, alright?”

_Mrew._

“I really am not.” Sho smiles softly, but frowns when Jun merely crawls back into his hiding spot, tail lashing widely before Jun finally bites into it in an action that causes Sho to frown, fingers outstretched to stop him. “No, don’t do that, Jun-kun—”

The name sounds wrong on his tongue, no matter how many times Sho says it. The cat  _is_ Jun, there is no doubt about it, but the more Sho looks at the spotted cat with purple eyes – his kitten – the more Sho is reminded of Macchan, the rolling ball of fluff that insists sharing a bed with Sho and be fed expensive anago.

“You know what, I’m just going to call you Macchan. Can’t imagine you as anything else.” Sho slides his arm in deeper and crooks a finger ever so slightly. “Come on now, Macchan. Don’t bite your tail. You might tear out some fur. We don’t want that, do we? Come here. Let’s at least talk about this properly… You don’t want the students to come in and see Sakurai-sensei trying to cajole a cat from beneath a table, do you?”

At the last statement, Jun looks up in an almost horrified manner, before reluctantly padding over to Sho with a lowly held head and his tail tucked beneath his legs. No matter how shocking the discovery is, Sho is unable to repress the soft croon that escapes him when Jun allows him to lift him up by his belly and into Sho’s lap, eyes soft and fingers instantly brushing the soft fur to soothe Jun’s frizzled nerves. Jun lies limply in his cradle, not reacting to the soothing action even as Sho attempts to ease the nervous, high tension trembling of his body. Anyone can tell that Jun is nervous – afraid even – at the situation.

While Sho did not necessarily have to be the one to seek Jun out to speak to him, a tiny part of him is reminded that a lot of the secrets Jun have chosen to keep from everyone began to emerge only after their falling out. In a way, it is neither of their faults how things turned out, but Sho knows that things may have been mitigated if Jun was more willing to talk to Sho, or anyone in their group of five, really; maybe if Sho tried harder, nipped the reticence in the bud before things spiralled out of control for  _years_ , things might have turned out better.

In spite of the situation, Sho cannot help but marvel at the realization that this is Jun, allowing Sho to hold him, cradle him close and stroke his fur like any other pet or creature. Heck, if their close friends had animagi forms, Sho is sure none of them would have qualms about being petted so familiarly, but never in his mind did he imagine that  _Jun_  would allow Sho to do so. When was the last time they shared such proximity and contact? Perhaps it was the smallest of finger-touches Sho managed to wrangle in on his graduation day, when he gave Jun his shirt button by force – a reminder of the promise he made and a hope for forgiveness.

Sho doesn’t know if Jun still keeps the button.

But all in all, the topic is one best discussed away from prying ears.

With an almost silent crack, Sho apparates them directly into his quarters, and then rushes to apologize when the suddenness of the motion causes Jun to retch in shock. The twisting sensation of Apparition is more prominent on smaller creatures compared to humans, meaning that for Jun, even the short duration is enough to make him sick. He staggers off Sho’s grip almost dizzily, but does not physically bring up anything as he retches.

“I’m so sorry.” Sho apologizes once again as he strokes Jun’s back. “I forgot how bad Apparitions are on creatures – not that you’re a creature, but um, I mean, your size and all.”

Jun mewls pitifully beneath Sho’s grip, and with a shudder than nearly worries Sho, promptly transforms into his human form, albeit more pale and shaky looking, and unable to look Sho in the eye even as he gracelessly pulls himself onto Sho’s couch.

“Do you want some water?”

It is as if Jun suddenly remembers Sho’s presence at his question, and the transfiguration professor moans, and makes to stand up.

“I need to leave. Merlin – today is just some fucked up da—”

“No no, please.” Sho rushes to pin Jun’s shoulders down onto the ground. “Please sit. You look like you’re about to keel over. And we need to talk, really.” Sho tilts his head down to catch Jun’s eyes, and smiles shyly when Jun flushes a bright pink at the look. “I’m going to at least fetch you something for the dizziness and nausea from my potion stores, and some water, alright? It’s my fault you’re suffering now, after all.”

He does not wait for a response, and with a wave of his hand, the vial comes flying into his outstretched hand, while the glass of cold water levitates calmly on the table in front of Jun and onto a coaster.

“You said you’d fetch it. Not summon it.” Jun grumbles as Sho continues to kneel in front of him as Sho offers the potion.

“You’d probably run away had I not summoned it.”

Jun says nothing to that, which only means that Sho is correct with his assumption. Biting his lip, Sho nervously shifts to sit at the other end of his couch, and clears his throat before saying, “I never formally apologized for what I said to you, that day.”

“Which day?” Jun’s voice is rough, eyes unmoving from Sho’s table even as he leans back heavily against the back of the sofa.

“The day you kissed me.”

Jun shuts his eyes tightly at the answer, and although Jun may have tried to not let it show, Sho notices the manner his face contorts in an almost painful reminiscence of the past. “Merlin, Sakurai. Those days are long past. Was there even anything for you to apologize for? We already had this conversation before. You had not considered romance at all, you were worried about graduation and school. Been there, done that.” 

“I… I saw how it affected you. We were so close up until then, and afterwardsyou became so recluse, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“It didn’t ‘affect’ me. I was a hormonal teenager who got emotionally attached to someone I admired, and then I made a stupid mistake. I was devastated then, Sho-san, but I promise you that it didn’t ‘affect’ me as much as any form of heartbreak would do to a 16-year-old adolescent boy.”

“Yet why can’t you look me in the eye as you tell that to me, Jun-kun?” Sho presses gently. He does not sense the lie in Jun’s voice – probably because there is none – but that does not mean that Jun’s opinion is not biased against Jun himself. It is full of self-deprecation and shame where there could have been hurt too. “Our relationship hasn’t been the same since then. If it was, then it would have been easier for you to tell me that you were my purple-eyed kitten, wouldn’t it?”

“I’m not yours. And I am not a  _kitten._ ” Jun hisses, and glares at Sho angrily. His reaction is very quintessentially Jun, yet Sho nearly chokes at how cat-like it is, now that he can make that reference. “I’m a black-footed cat, which means that my size is normal for an adult cat.”

“A fact I would have known if you told it to me directly, Jun-kun.” Sho leans forward and in a burst of courage, carefully places his hand on top of Jun’s head in a nostalgic action. He hasn’t done this in so long, yet it feels perfect in the way that this is  _Jun_  and this is also  _Macchan_ , his mysterious cat who vanishes every morning. Jun stiffens at the contact, but makes no move to push Sho away. “I wish you did. You never told any of us about your form. I always wondered why, since we talked about having animagi forms, and you always told us how you wanted to do a transfiguration mastery because you wanted to know what you could turn into.”

Jun shifts uncomfortably, and shakes off Sho’s hand as he looks away. “It’s… small.”

The shame in his voice has Sho gaping, his chest suddenly tight when he realizes the depth of Jun’s fear. Does Jun think that having a small and endearing creature as his animagi is shameful? “It’s  _you_. It’s perfect. It’s not a competition Jun – No one cares if your animagi form is a cat or a mountain bear. Or if it’s an ant. It’s still impressive. Only a tiny fraction of wizards and witches are ever able to achieve such a transfo—”

“I know!”

The sharpness of Jun’s voice and a flash of purple in his eyes shuts Sho up instantly. It is not out of fear, but of sudden awe; Veelas aren’t to be trifled with, be it full or quarter-blooded Veelas. Almost immediately after, Jun looks guilty.

“I know. Master Pinus had the same talk with me. You don’t have to repeat it.” He looks away, unable to meet Sho’s gaze.

“Sorry.” Sho’s apology is sincere and earnest, but that does not smooth the tenseness in Jun’s shoulders.

“No. I am. I should have said something from the start. I crossed several lines, waltzing into your personal quarters like that and not saying anything.”

“It’s fine, Jun-kun.”

And it surprises Sho that it truly is fine. Sho’s never particularly liked surprises or having his privacy infringed (well, who does, actually?), but it does not anger him to discover that Jun has been sharing Sho’s bed in his Animagus form the entire time. Sho wonders why this is the case – is it because it is Jun? 

“It’s not fine. Of all people, you probably wouldn’t want me in your bed without your knowledge…”

“Wait. ‘Of all people’?” Sho’s brow furrows in confusion as he tries to understand Jun’s insinuation. If anything, it is  _because_  it is Jun that Sho’s fine with it. He nearly flushes at the phrasing, even; Jun, in his bed, all sleepy and ethereal –

Sho shakes his head to cast away that thought, knowing that this is hardly the time for such bad thoughts.  _Bad Sho._

“You misunderstand, Jun-kun; I don’t care that it was you. Maybe it’s because it was you and not anyone else that it’s alright.” The discomfort in Jun’s face only grows, and it takes several beats for Sho to realize why Jun is under the notion that Sho wouldn’t want Jun of all people in his bed. “You’re saying that because you had a crush on me back then, so you think I’d be uncomfortable with it.”

“It’s a reasonable assumption.” Jun mumbles beneath his breath, looking tense enough to bolt like a startled cat. “I should go.”

Sho seizes Jun’s bicep in a firm grip, and gives Jun the most resolved look he can currently muster. The thought of Jun running away  _again_  without Sho having resolved this makes Sho pale – he has had enough of this. “No, stay. You are not running away from me anymore.”

“The staff meeting—”

“You know no one cares if we miss the rest of it. Listen to me, please.” Sho pauses, and waits for Jun to agree before continuing, “I was seventeen. I never once thought of dating, or of being in love or infatuated with someone in school, not with all the academics and exams and prefect duties. You were a breath of fresh air that I didn’t deserve, and I couldn’t hurt you by saying yes then and pretend to have feelings that I’d never considered. I know I’ve apologized before, but please understand this – my reaction then wasn’t because of  _you_. It was a decision I made and never discussed with you because I was afraid and ashamed, but now I see that I should have explained myself. The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you.”

Sho shifts his hands to grip Jun’s hands in his, and imperceptibly leans forward to move a tiny bit closer into Jun’s space. Up close, Jun’s caramel brown eyes appear bright with moisture, lips a fine line and trembling ever so slightly. Sho wonders for how long Jun has been hurting, and it pains him to know that it is his own doing that has caused Jun so much misery.

“You’ve been so distant since then. But I’ve missed you, Jun.” Sho confesses, forgoing the honorific just this once because they’ve had enough austerity between them to last multiple lifetimes. “I thought it was a blessing for Macchan to have fallen into my lap so easily, a feisty lovable thing that reminded me so much of you. But then it turns out that my purple-eyed kitten has always been you.”

Sho reaches up to stroke Jun’s hair, and smiles softly at the whimper that catches in Jun’s throat.

“Can we start all over again?”

Jun’s breaths come out unsteadily, and Sho’s name leaves his voice in a stutter. “S-Sho…”

For a moment, Jun looks like he is truly going to cry, a fact that both alarms Sho and endears him simultaneously. It’s as though Jun hasn’t changed at all – perhaps he has hardened on the outside, the veela inheritance only adding to his image of aloofness, but Jun is still as soft and emotional as he has always been.

And then his form shrinks faster than Sho can see, fur sprouting and tail growing until there is only a warm figure being cupped in Sho’s large palms. Immediately, Sho wonders if Jun is going to run; but then Jun practically pounces onto Sho’s chest, claws digging into his robes and pricking his skin as Sho rushes to secure him. Jun’s mewls are so soft that Sho can barely hear them, but when Sho reaches down with his fingers to scratch at Jun’s furry cheek, he feels the wetness of Jun’s feline face, refusing to move from where it is against the cotton fabric of Sho’s teaching robes.

Sho’s heart melts that very moment, and he only moves to run his hand down the length of Jun’s warm furry body in heavy, even strokes. Bending his neck, Sho gently nuzzles the soft hair of Jun’s feline head with his cheek and lets out a shaky laugh.

“You’ve always been so bad at letting others see you cry.” 

 


	17. Candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The staff betting pool (It exists).

**The (Un)official Hogwarts Staff Betting Pool - as of 5th September, 20xx.**  
  
Important rules:   
  
1\. Sho and Jun are not allowed to bet on themselves. That would constitute as cheating.   
2\. If Sho and Jun  _do_  discover the existence of this betting pool, we are all to feign innocence and blame it on the students as them doing a prank.  
3\. No one is allowed to bet with goblin gold. Discovery of doing so will earn the wrath of the mediator (read: Ninomiya Kazunari) and the Niffler which guards the cauldron containing said betting pool.  
4\. Other currencies may be accepted as long as they can be exchanged for monetary worth or if they are useful potions, spells or the like.  
5\. Cheating (i.e. manipulating involved persons) is not allowed (if you are discovered).   
6\. All bets must be made magically, and once made, will appear on this betting sheet.  
7\. Bets made and written on this betting sheet will remain anonymous until ShoJun gets together.   
8\. Bets are made based on when and/how how ShoJun get together. The mediator will decide fairly which bet is the closest to reality (when and if it finally happens).   
9\. Bets cannot be modified after being made (unless you can bribe the mediator).   
  
 **Current bets:**  
  
Yuletide, by the mistletoe in an unspecified location.  
  
January, by Jun tripping and falling into Sho’s arms and accidentally kissing him.   
  
February, by Sho tripping and falling into Jun’s arms and accidentally kissing him. [Mediator’s note: Have you seen their current dynamic? Do you think Jun would actually  _catch_  Sho?]  
  
Day after Yule Staff Party, where Jun gets drunk and ends up sleeping with Sho at night.  
  
Last day of school, when Slytherins win the house cup and Jun kisses Sho in a jealous rage that is also fuelled partially by their infamous sexual tension.   
  
Last day of school, when Hufflepuffs win the house cup and Jun kisses Sho by accident in happiness.   
Valentine’s day, via love potion (no further details given).  
  
In Spring, with the help of the Giant Squid (no further details given).   
  
In late Spring, where Sho finally snaps and kisses Jun in front of the entire school.   
  
Near Yule, when Jun’s inner veela decides that he wants Sho, and Jun kisses Sho in front of the whole school.   
  
Halloween Feast, when Peeves decides to be ‘helpful’ and lock them both up in the closet.   
  
Halloween Feast with Jun accidentally drinking veritaserum [Mediator’s note: and how did that get there?] and breaking down with all the pent up anger and sexual tension and kisses Sho after a long narration of all the things Sho have done wrong/all the reasons why Jun hates Sho.  
  
Halloween Feast, Sho jumps Jun after seeing him in his Halloween costume. 


	18. Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes some silvervine to get them together. (Finally).

“So,” Nino starts a few days after the staff meeting ‘incident’ as he drops heavily against what is supposed to be  _Aiba’s_  seat at the Great Table, and slouches forward to rest his elbows on the desk. Sho immediately puts down the cup of coffee he has been nursing, eyes wary for the early morning ‘attack’. “Jun-pon no longer wants to murder Aiba or half the population of Gryffindors.”  
  
“Or… Perhaps they learnt their lesson to not gossip too loudly around a professor who can easily transfigure them into  _mice._  Did you know that black-footed cats have the highest hunting-success rate among all felines?”   
  
Sho starts at Nino’s sudden rearing up, face scrunching up in faint disgust as he steals a sausage off of Sho’s breakfast plate. “Merlin. Don’t tell me you actually looked him up. Talk about stalking—”  
  
“It’s hardly stalking! I just want to learn about his animagi.” Sho protests as he shields his plate from Nino’s hands. “And don’t steal off my plate. You act as if you can’t get any breakfast of your own. Go snap your fingers or something.”   
  
“Between you and me, the only thing I want to know is if he can get high on catnip. Because that would be amazing.” The Ravenclaw head of house scratches his chin thoughtfully, and ignores Sho’s exasperated eyeroll. Knowing how Raven’s can get when they’re stuck on an idea, Sho snaps his fingers to request for another plate of breakfast for Nino. “I don’t think I’ve heard of any research done on the effect of catnip on feline animagii. What do you think, Sho-chan? Would it have any effect on Jun if he’s human or only if he’s all meow?”   
  
Sho gingerly places the new plate in front of Nino and sighs as he simply presses the nearest, clean fork into Nino’s hand. “Please eat your breakfast before you set a bad example for the students.”  
  
“I’m in pursuit of knowledge. I think I’m setting an excellent example for the students!”  
  
“Just eat your breakfast, Nino.”   
  
xxx  
  
The melted ice between Sho and Jun’s once frosty relationship is probably the second-worst kept secret of the castle, besides the staff betting pool. No one – and really,  _no one,_ not even the most oblivious Gryffindors – has missed the way their Transfiguration professor has relaxed around everyone, and the gossip has stopped as well, once it’s gotten into everyone’s minds that calling someone, with the authority to deduct their house points into the negatives, ‘cute’ is a sure-fire way to  _not_  win the house cup at the end of the school year. It is no surprise that Hufflepuff wins the house cup that year, much to Jun’s smugness. Of course, their win is likely due to the fact that none of them even thought to peep into the business concerning their beloved Head of House’s animagi. If anything, the pride of having such a skilled  ~~overlord~~  professor only spurred their academic thirst, leading to a last minute surge of house points as the usually shy ‘puffs began to participate in class with a drive that rivalled that of the Ravenclaws.  
  
To the disappointment of the entire school, Sho and Jun do not get together within the school term, rendering all bets nullified until another shrewd fellow decides to restart it the following term. Given that the nature of the bet is a secret (just another technicality), the crestfallen expressions of each staff member are well-hidden during the end of term staff dinner. Their only consolation is that Jun no longer looks like a tense cat waiting for Sho to jump him, which is a significant improvement in staff amity.  
  
(Or rather, that is what Headmaster Higashiyama wants to think.)  
  
The staff dinner is in full swing when Nino approaches Jun with an expression of innocence, smile suspiciously angelic as he taps Jun’s shoulder to draw his attention away from where Jun is engaged in a discussion of wandlore with Nagase and Taichi (Runes and Arithmancy Professors, respectively). The conversation halts momentarily as Jun turns to face Nino with confusion, and asks, “Nino? What is it?”  
  
“I wanted to give you something. As congratulations. For winning the House cup and all.” Nino explains benignly, hands clasped together in a manner that only makes Jun wary.  
  
“Nino…”  
  
“Here you go! Just some flowers.” Nino’s smile grows as he promptly expands the hidden, shrunk bouquet of greenery from his pocket and practically presses them into Jun’s hands. His eyes are bright with the curious delight of any Ravenclaw, but Jun is more concerned by the sight of flowers then the mischief that Nino is clearly up to.  
  
“Nino! Are you insane? You know I’m allergic to pol—” Jun’s exclamation is suddenly cut off by a sneeze.  
  
Around the staff table, everyone halts mid-conversation.  
  
“Yeah? Sorry, Jun-pon. Slipped my mind.”  
  
Nino’s half-hearted apology doesn’t seem to process much in Jun’s mind as he looks hazily down at the bouquet of flowers. The flowers and leaves smell awfully nice – no, not the flowers, but rather the odd half-inch in diameter dry sticks that have been weirdly incorporated into the bouquet are what smells enticing. So enticing, in fact, that it takes a great deal of will for him to not sink his teeth into them.  
  
“Umm… Jun-kun?” Taichi hesitantly calls out, “You alright there? You look a bit…”  
  
“High.” Nino almost giggles in glee, “You’re high off silvervine. That’s amazing.”  
  
“…High?” Jun repeats dumbly and gives up trying to look away from the amazing smelling branch. Reaching into the bouquet, Jun sneezes once, then fishes out the rest of the stick to sniff at properly. “Silvervine? Is that what it is? It smells good.”  
  
“Jun-kun— you shouldn’t—” Sho suddenly scrambles closer, eyes wide in disbelief that Nino actually drugged Jun with something even more potent than catnip,  _just to test out a theory._  
  
From the other side of the room, Aiba calls out, “Nino! He’s going to kill you when it wears off.”  
  
“But his reaction is amazing! It smells good, doesn’t it, Jun-pon?” Nino encourages, catching the bouquet when Jun dumps it in favour of rubbing the silvervine stick with both hands.  
  
“It smells… really goo—” He halts mid-slur to scrunch up his face, and then sneezes.  
  
And promptly turns into a cat.  
  
xxx  
  
Sho is going to kill Nino. Or rather, Jun is going to kill Nino later, and it will be Sho, Aiba and Ohno’s job to stop him when that happens. For now, however, his current task involves attempting to cajole the silvervine stick away from Jun’s  _really sharp_  claws, and achieving it is more difficult than he imagined, especially since he has to do this while cradling said squirmy Macchan in one hand.  
  
It’s not that Jun doesn’t look completely adorable and loveable while being legitimately high on the equivalent of catnip. It is, in fact, the opposite, and Sho is certain that every professor in the room has no issues playing with Jun until the silvervine wears off. However, knowing Jun, he will be so embarrassed when the whole ordeal is over.  
  
(Admittedly, a small part of Sho does not like the idea of sharing  _his_  Macchan with anyone else.)  
  
It is for that reason that Sho has stolen Jun away from the rest of the party, shushing the confused, but sated, mewls as Jun drools in an unfashionably adorable way all over Sho’s hand, looking up at Sho with dazed pleasure as he gnaws onto the stick.  
  
“You’re adorable, but sheathe those claws, Macchan. You know how hard it is to get blood off these robes.” Sho winces, but there is no heat in his voice as he tries to tug the silvervine away from Jun. He is unable to keep away a goofy smile from his face as Jun somehow realizes that Sho is trying to take his silvervine and has convinced his feline mind that Sho wants to try the drool-, teeth- and claw mark-covered piece of wood. With a stern mewl, Jun suddenly offers the silvervine to Sho’s face with outstretched paws, a feat, given the lack of opposable thumbs. “Thank you, but I’ll hold off on the biting for now.”  
  
Pocketing the moist stick, Sho adjusts his hold on Jun to properly cradle him on his back, the movement easy from years of working with small creatures during his Hogwarts years. Within a few moments, he is crooning at a purring puddle of cat in his arms, the furry face pressing lazily into Sho’s hand when Sho scratches his forehead.  
  
Initially, Sho found it difficult to get used to think of his beautiful purple-eyed cat as being a Jun, and for a while, was wary when Jun attempted to get close to Sho in his cat form (which is surprisingly more often than Sho predicted). It took him several days of downtrodden feline to realize that Jun was equally shy as well, and thus the onus fell on Sho to be a bit more open with his affection. Which frankly speaking, isn’t a difficult task at all. The fact that Jun is slowly warming up to Sho – sharing events that happened during his apprenticeship, for example – makes Sho feel less guilty for the incident years ago and more than happy to be affectionate towards Macchan.  
  
It’s also endearing to watch Jun’s reaction to any praise regarding his Animagus form. He blushes such a lovely pink.  
  
“I don’t suppose you’ll be turning back anytime soon?” Sho asks a few minutes into walking around random hallways.  
  
 _Mrew._  
  
“Didn’t think so.” Sho sighs, and smiles at the innocent, slightly dopey look on Jun. “Guess it might take a while for it to wear off. It’s fine though. You’re really cute like this.”  
  
 _Mreow._

  
“Don’t give me that look. You are cute. You know this. No need to be so shy about it.” Sho taps on Jun’s nose with a finger to dispel Jun’s current bared fangs. Jun’s face wrinkles up into an ugly expression at the touch, and then—  
  
 _Tchh!_  With a powerful sneeze, he promptly turns back into a dazed human, face flushed a delicate pink and body being held upright only by Sho’s grip on his forearms. Hair mussed by all the wriggling he did as a cat, Sho cannot help but think of how pretty he looks, allure blinking irregularly in Jun’s state of intoxication. Jun keeps his allure as muted as he possibly can during the school term, not wanting to distract the students, but with his loss of control, Sho finds himself undeniably attracted to Jun, and the attraction is not based entirely on physical appearance.   
  
“Not c-c—” Jun wobbles unsteadily on his feet, fingers clutching Sho’s robes for balance, and blinks slowly once, twice, as he realizes their current position. “—cute.” He finishes lamely.   
  
Stifling a laugh, Sho carefully backs Jun against the wall and grips the back of his head to stop it from hitting the wall too hard. Once Jun is more steadily braced against a hallway wall, Sho makes the decision to not let go, instead sliding his hand up to scratch Jun’s scalp as if he was still a cat. He expects indignance, yet Jun merely closes his eyes in pleasure, body sagging in bliss as Jun unwittingly pulls Sho even closer with his hands. “You should really see yourself now.”  
  
“You smell… really good.”   
  
“That would be the silvervine. I should really banish it.” Sho murmurs, but lets Jun lean closer to bury his nose into Sho’s robes. At this juncture, Sho is certain Jun will be extremely embarrassed once he regains bearings over his mind (embarrassed and angry at a particular Ravenclaw), but he cannot stop himself from enjoying Jun’s affections, letting him paw at his pockets and chest in search for his silvervine.   
  
When he feels Jun sneak his fingers around the stick, Sho intervenes quickly by grabbing Jun’s wrist and humming apologetically as Jun raises a confused, sad gaze at Sho for not allowing him to have his drug.   
  
“But I want it.”   
  
“How about I give you something better?”   
  
The promise spills out of Sho before he can think too hard on exactly what he is saying, mind completely drawn to Jun’s sudden pout.   
  
“Something better?”   
  
Carefully gripping Jun’s chin, Sho doesn’t think twice as he presses his lips softly against Jun’s. Jun’s lips are warm and slightly wet as he gasps into the kiss, but before Sho can worry that it is from unhappiness, he feels Jun exhale sharply and lean closer, long eyelashes fluttering against his and Sho’s cheekbones.   
  
When Sho moves away, he feels extremely satisfied to see Jun almost slack and dazed in surprise and pleasure, blinking slowly at Sho as though unable to process what just happened.   
  
“Did you just…” Jun starts slowly, silvervine entirely forgotten as he gapes at Sho.   
  
“I kissed you, yes. Did you like it?”   
  
“...Maybe?”   
  
“Shall I try again, then?” Sho teases, but his calm front is only hiding the rapid, excited fluttering of his heart as he watches Jun nod shyly. Jun’s pupils are still dilated as Sho cups the back of his head, and Sho nearly smiles into the second kiss when he realizes how Jun has bravely parted his lips slightly in askance for something more than Sho was planning to give.   
  
And then he sneezes, and Sho once again has a cat cupped in his palms, looking quite miffed at the sudden transformation. Unable to help himself, Sho breaks out in laughter and treats Jun’s angry growls with a casual wave of the silvervine, and a soft kiss to Jun’s furry forehead. 


	19. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Staff vacation? Or Hunger Games? 
> 
> OR. Camping trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swapped the prompts for the last two days, so that tomorrow will be more climatic. HEH,

Even though none of them expected the staff vacation to turn out to be a proverbial hunger games scenario in the Forbidden Forest (except with less killing and more stunning), there is still something amusing in watching a unicorn foal nuzzle into an unwilling Nino’s chest, its undeveloped horn glowing a vibrant silver as it creeps closer to the petite Ravenclaw head-of-house. From a distance, Sho and Jun watch with great amusement as Aiba attempts to approach with the elegance and curiosity of a newborn kitten, much to the dismay of the unicorn. A few metres away, Ohno is digging up a magical species of bioluminescent mushrooms, that can be used as a fishing lure, living close to the edge of a puddle.   
  
Officially, this is just the preliminary round of what will actually be the staff vacation. No one knows whose brilliant idea it was to create a competition amongst the professors (barring the Headmaster – now that would be cheating): A survival game of sorts, and the winners (i.e. The last to survive the game OR whoever survives two nights, because the Forbidden Forest at night is still dangerous to anyone, student or professor) will be offered a fully paid 3-day, 2-night vacation in any location of their choice. Granted, no professor really wanted to be chucked into the forest a fortnight before the start of the new school term, especially when lessons plans have to be made, but they will live.   
  
Especially Jun, despite his aversion towards camping. A group like his - a group which has someone who can fish and knows the lakes within the Forbidden Forest like the back of his hand, as well as a Defense of Dark Arts professor, a Charms professor, a Potions professor and a Transfiguration professor - will fare rather well. Whoever thought of the rules really should have considered banning them from choosing their own groups.   
  
It is hardly a problem for their five-unit group to ‘survive’ the night when at least one person in the group is trained in creating safety wards (Sho, from his auror training), and two of them are proficient in conjuring up the most ridiculous of shelters (Jun and Nino). Between the portable cauldron and travel potion set Aiba always carries around and Ohno’s fishing, they can easily pretend this competition is a small camping trip. (Although Jun will likely choose to sleep as a feline tonight. Far more comfortable to be hidden near Sho instead of being puppy piled with the rest.)   
  
After several moments of silence, Aiba is unable to help himself, and blurts out, “… Nino-chan’s a virgin, aren’t you?”   
  
“Am not!” Nino denies vehemently, although his ferocity and believability is undone by the fact that the unicorn only tries to move closer, muzzle nuzzling his dark locks of hair in what appears to be a friendly act of grooming.   
  
Naturally, Jun must speak up about this, eyes dancing with mirth as he casts a tempus to check the time. “Um, the unicorn doesn’t lie, Nino.”   
  
“Says the person who is bad with animals! And what excuse do you have? You’re part-veela! What happened to veelas being devoted partners to a single mate?”  
  
“I  _am_  a devoted partner to a single mate. What are you talking about?” Jun growls at the accusation, hand immediately reaching out to clasp Sho’s wrist as he instinctively scoots closer to the only mildly amused Sho.   
  
“The unicorn isn’t approaching you, so when did you do the dirty?” Nino continues to drill, only to gape in realization when Sho reaches to hug Jun from behind. The embrace is meant to stop Jun from going up to Nino and hexing him, but also partly to hide Sho’s smug smile against Jun’s shoulder as he wordlessly blinks at his friends. “Oh. Ew. EWWWW.”   
  
Aiba sends a gentle head-slap in the form of a spell as he rolls his eyes at Nino’s immaturity. There is no reason to scare the poor foal.   
  
“Don’t ‘ew’ at us! We’re together – what did you think we’d do?  _Celibate? While in a relationship?_ ” Jun clicks his tongue at the gagging noise Nino makes. However, Jun finds himself unable to maintain any form of emotion besides satisfaction when Sho simply laughs, the sound loud and reverberating from where Sho is pressing his chest against Jun’s back. Ohno merely smiles at their antics when he finishes storing the mushrooms in a conjured box.   
  
“Well, I didn’t need to know about it!”   
  
“But you were running the staff betting pool on when they’d get together.” Aiba adds helpfully, only to be silenced by a wordless Silencio.   
  
“You idiot! They weren’t supposed to know about it!”   
  
As Aiba manages to get Ohno to cancel the charm, Sho merely clears his throat, looking entirely sheepish with Jun as they explain, “You do know that the staff betting pool is the castle’s worst kept secret.”   
  
“And my badgers told me about it about halfway through the year.”   
  
“And the house elves asked me if I wanted a bucket of ice and champagne for getting together with Matsumoto-sensei when I visited the kitchens to ask for anago for an unruly kitten. Imagine my confusion when I found out my three closest friends were plotting my love life alongside the entire staff.”   
  
“And you couldn’t have gotten together earlier to let me have my money?”   
  
“Nino, so help me, I will stun you and put you out of this competition if you say another word.” As if to prove his point, Jun’s hand twitches at his side, only stilling when Sho placatingly kisses his cheek in good humour.   
  
Several beats of silence later, Ohno helpfully reminds them of their previous topic, much to Nino’s dismay. “…Weren’t we talking about Nino being a virgin a few minutes ago?”   
  
“Are you offering to change that?”


	20. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun's birthday. Smut.

The thing about having creature blood is that Jun has become especially perceptive of magic since his inheritance. When he first woke up on his 23rd birthday, he was so unaccustomed to the sudden intensity of magical signals bombarding his senses that Jun ended up incapacitated with a migraine for the rest of the week, one incurable even with potions.   
  
Now, he has learnt how to mute the flares of colour that represent the magic of any wizard or witch. However, powerful magics can still get past his shields, and Jun has made exceptions for his friends, having been curious to what their magic feels like.   
  
Nino’s magic, for example, feels like someone tickling his face with a breath of minty air whenever he casts spells, whereas Ohno’s feels like the ocean lapping at Jun’s hands and feet. Aiba’s magic has always felt warm, a summer breeze no matter the real season. Similar to Aiba, Sho’s magic has only ever made Jun feel warm, although the warmth is a far different one. Aiba’s warmth blows across his skin to warm his body, but Sho’s… Sho’s magic exudes a heat from  _within_  Jun’s body, starting deep in his bones and inciting shivers.   
  
Over the past few weeks, Jun has only grown more sensitive to Sho’s magic, his partial veela blood making itself known by wanting to familiarize itself with a prospective ‘mate’’s magic as much as possible. The thought is slightly embarrassing, but creature blood is creature blood, meaning that Jun cannot stop himself even if he wants to.  
  
He has no intention of letting Sho find out about this ability, of course. Goodness know that man will use that information against Jun.   
  
xxx  
  
Jun’s awakening process is always a slow one - he is not a morning person by any stretch of his imagination, and so he requires at least an hour and a good cup of coffee before he can deem his mood good enough for human interaction. Sho is an exception to ‘human interaction’, but the man knows not to bother Jun with too much talking until Jun himself initiates the conversation.   
  
This morning, however, is a little different.   
  
Jun’s rise to wakefulness is still a slow process, lazy and comforting as he feels the morning light bathe his face, his body warm and swathed in soft sheets and blankets. His body aches as well - a reminder of his activities last night - but additionally, Jun feels a swell of magic that he simply knows is Sho’s reverbating deep in his bones, starting from the base of his spine and spreading upwards, leaving him limp and pliant as the magic generates barely-there pulses of pleasure. He should be suspicious of the magic, but it is a marker of Sho’s presence, and that is always a comfort.  
  
(His arousal is heavy against his thigh, but Jun ignores it as well. It’s an unfortunate side effect of being  _extremely_  sensitive to his partner’s magic, but he can easily pass it off as morning wood. For today, Jun simply wants to bask in Sho’s bed and enjoy his morning.)   
  
His toes naturally curl when a heavy hand begins to card itself through Jun’s hair, a hot body pressing itself lazily against Jun’s back as warm and wet lips press themselves teasingly against the nape of his neck. Sho must sense his wakefulness then, if he dares to make lazy advances towards Jun. Jun merely responds with a sigh, burying his nose into his pillow and inhaling the heady smell of his lover. This is surely one of the best ways to wake up during the school vacation.   
  
The stroking of his hair inevitably lulls Jun deeper into a state of sleepiness, even though he knows that this will only garner more teasing from Sho about being ‘such a cat, you’ later. Sho’s drawing of circles into Jun’s bare hip does not help either, but it only reaffirms the reasons for Jun’s adoration for his partner: a man who knows to let Jun  _be_ , patient and kind and a perfect mate—   
  
Jun halts his thought right there, frowning at the wayward thought. He really needs better control of his veela side.   
  
Suddenly, Sho shifts the hand that was on Jun’s hip to grip Jun’s thigh, and Jun’s breath hitches in surprise. Sho’s fingers dig into the firm flesh without really hurting Jun, but before Jun can murmur a questioning call of his name, he feels it.   
  
Pressure, just before his entrance which Sho pillaged quite thoroughly the night before, and then —   
  
“S-Sho.” Jun chokes as Sho slides in without any difficulty, the movement slow but feeling  _so, so deep_  as Sho raises Jun’s thigh to make his hole more accessible. Even with their activities last night, Jun had not expected himself to be stretched enough this morning for sex without proper preparation; yet, Sho’s entry is painless and unexpectedly smooth, as though he has spent hours preparing Jun while Jun was asleep.   
  
Unless… The magic he felt upon waking up was really Sho’s, preparing Jun for this morning ‘exercise’.  _That sneaky little piece of s—_  
  
“You’re thinking too much, Jun.” Sho comments lightly as he pulls out, only to sink in languidly in the next intake of breath. The action draws a whine from Jun’s throat, and his fingers reach out instinctively to claw at the sheets. Given their position, Sho cannot move fast or hard, but that does not stop him from fucking Jun quite thoroughly. If anything, the slow pace is what drives Jun insane; every measured movement allows Jun to discern the obscene clinging of his channel around Sho’s cock as it enters him, followed by the tugging of his walls when Sho retracts. If the sensation of fullness isn’t enough to drive Jun insane, then Jun’s consciousness of how his own body reacts to Sho surely is. “Good morning. And happy birthday.”  
  
Good morning indeed. The steadiness of Sho’s voice, as well as his casualness, makes Jun want to hit him, but it’s impossible to do so now from his position. Jun can feel Sho so  _clearly_  that he is unable to do anything besides shudder and whine Sho’s name. He can’teven register the fact that he’s a year older now (unnecessary celebration, really, since wizards and witches live far longer than muggles). Every second Sho is sheathed inside Jun’s body sets his nerves on fire with pleasure and sensitivity, and Jun  _loves it_.  
  
“S-Sho,  _Sho_ — There!” Jun moans when Sho raises Jun’s leg even higher, the action causing Sho’s cock to strike Jun’s prostate dead-center with the adjusted angle. Jun’s hand searches for purchase on Sho’s hip as he reaches back to dig his nails into Sho’s skin; he demands for Sho to give him  _“M-more, Sho. T-there. Merlin, right there—!”_ , and his nails are surely going to leave red crescent marks after this, but Jun hardly cares.   
  
Sho merely laughs, the sound deep and husky and doing so many things to Jun as he rolls his hips in slow undulations. “I really love how loud you can be.”   
  
The words cause Jun to flush - or would have caused him to flush if Jun wasn’t already red and warm all over - but he simply knocks his head back to rest against Sho’s shoulder, hip held still by Sho’s firm grip. Sho instantly takes advantage of the new angle to sink his teeth into the exposed skin between Jun’s neck and shoulder, and causes Jun to moan in a manner he would be embarrassed by if he wasn’t too occupied with processing the sensations Sho is drowning him in. Especially when Sho begins to squeeze his hip in an almost rhythmic pace, each squeeze sending magic tingling across the surface of Jun’s skin and setting fire to all of Jun’s sensitive nerves. If there is a time Jun is cursing his magical sensitivity while blessing it simultaneously, it would be now.  
  
The sheets have been shoved to the side within minutes of Sho’s initial penetration, but that is not enough to keep Jun’s body cool; even with the cooling charms weaved into the sheets, his skin already begins to feel sticky and damp from their exertions, especially with Sho’s chest pressed against his back like a heater. It’s unfair that Jun cannot move much from his position, but after attempting to fight, to regain some semblance of control and failing to do so, Jun realizes it is much more convenient for him to simply just relax and let Sho fuck him into an early morning oblivion.   
  
To Sho’s credit, he does not keep Jun waiting for too long. Or perhaps, if it is Sho’s intention to drag out today’s morning fuck, then he would have failed. It is not the hard or fast thrusting that drives Jun over the edge. There is no acceleration, none of the roughness that Jun absolutely adores, and Sho  _knows_ that Jun adores, but simply the unhurried press and retraction of Sho in and out of Jun is enough to bring him to climax. His orgasm isn’t one that’s sudden either - it simply builds and builds, a pool of pleasure gathering in his lower abdomen and sinking into the recesses of his mind until Jun can no longer take any more.  _Too full, too good, too much, too deep—_  
  
With a stuttering moan and seizing legs, Jun comes untouched into the now sweat-soiled sheets, his swollen and leaking erection shooting weak arcs of white across his thighs and onto his belly. His channel bears down on Sho simultaneously, squeezing spasmodically around the erection buried so deep within him. Within moments, Sho joins him - he releases Jun’s thigh and hip to wrap his arms tightly around Jun’s body, hips jerking as Sho releases into Jun, muffling his groan into Jun’s shoulder.   
  
The sensation of hot come in his body causes Jun to twitch weakly in Sho’s hold, but thankfully - or is it unfortunately - he is too sleepy for another round. Not when he’s only been awake for a short while. Instead, Jun sinks into Sho’s warm embrace, body once again limp and pliant against the sheets that have to be changed now as he deeply breathes in the musky scent of their copulation and of Sho.   
  
 _Merlin, he needs a shower._  
  
“Hello, kitten.”  
  
“Not a kitten.” Jun grouses, and squirms slightly to indicate his objection to Sho’s mode of address.   
  
Sho simply laughs and nuzzles his nose against Jun’s nape, unaffected by Jun’s dismissal as he reasons, “You’re my kitten, at least. Birthday kitten.”   
  
That’s also not entirely wrong.   
  
Grumbling, Jun wriggles to loosen Sho’s octopus hold on him and turns around to look at Sho with narrowed eyes, unwilling to concede defeat but also aware that he cannot win with this topic. Instead, Jun tangles their legs, and asks,   
  
“My birthday is just another day in the year. You must have another reason for the pleasant wake up call.”  
  
The glint in Sho’s eyes does not bode well in Jun’s favour, but Jun merely inches further into Sho’s warmth, hoping that whatever teasing Sho is going to conduct today will be softened since it is Jun’s birthday, and perhaps if Jun is more affectionate with him than usual.   
  
It rarely works, but it’s always worth a shot.   
  
“I thought I’d let you sleep in a little more since the students will be here in a few days—”   
  
Jun groans at the reminder of the new school year and kicks Sho’s shin lightly for mentioning the fact so early in the day. “Don’t remind me. I need to work on my lesson plan.”  
  
“And I know you’re nearly done with it, so you’ll be fine. Anyway, I decided to do a little reading on veelas this morning to spend my time...” Sho starts off innocently, and waits for Jun to hum in acknowledgement, before reaching out to cup Jun’s cheek, tendrils of magic reaching out to taste Jun’s skin and lips. The action causes Jun to jerk in surprise, but he manages to hold in the moan that arose with the magical touch. His body shudders imperceptibly, yet Sho seems to have caught his responsiveness, and Sho’s eyes gain a smug touch that only alarms Jun further. “Were you ever going to tell me that you are sensitive to magic? Because… I think that can be very useful.”  
  
Something in Sho’s eyes tells Jun that Sho isn’t thinking about ‘boring’ purposes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that would be the end of this fic ^^ I hope you enjoyed the verse, and I enjoyed all the lovely comments and feedback I got from readers. :D Thank you for your support, and comments and love are always appreciated <3\. 
> 
> Til the next fic, readers <3

**Author's Note:**

> Some basic contextual information:  
> Since Hogwart intake is based on whoever is born between 1st September of Year x and 31st August of Year x+1, I've classified Kaze and Yama into different years - and Yama together because I can put Ohno in a year below the stipulated year as appropriate if I wanted to XD
> 
> So, as of the years:  
> Ohno: 7th Year Hufflepuff | Astronomy Professor  
> Sho: 7th Year Slytherin | Prefect | Head Boy | DADA Professor  
> Aiba: 6th Year Gryffindor | Potions Professor  
> Jun: 6th Year Hufflepuff | Chaser | Prefect | Head Boy | Transfiguration Professor | Part Veela  
> Nino: 6th Year Ravenclaw | Seeker | Charms Professor  
> BTW, a black footed cat is realllly small. (Go google. ITS SO CUTE)


End file.
